inn
*toi>±
National Library of Scotland
*B000297143*
This Edinburgh Edition consists of
one thousand and thirty-jive copies
all numbered
Vol. VII. of issue : May 1895
THE WORKS OF
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
EDINBURGH EDITION
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
National Library of Scotland
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THE WORKS OF
ROBERT LOUIS
STEVENSON
TALES AND FANTASIES
VOLUME II
EDINBURGH
PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE FOR
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1895
r
*&uJiS
MORE NEW
ARABIAN NIGHTS
THE DYNAMITER
THE STORY OF
A LIE
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE DYNAMITER .... 1
THE STORY OF A LIE . . . . 293
MORE NEW
ARABIAN NIGHTS:
THE DYNAMITER
WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION
WITH
MRS. STEVENSON
7-a
First edition :
Longmans, Green and Co., 1883.
TO
Messrs. COLE AND COX
POLICE OFFICERS
Gentlemen,
In the "volume now in your hands, the authors have
touched upon that ugly devil of crime, with which it is your
glory to have contended. It were a waste of ink to do so in a
serious spirit. Let us dedicate our horror to acts of a more
mingled strain, where crime preserves some features of 'nobility,
and where reason and humanity can still relish the temptation.
Horror, in this case, is due to Mr. Parnell: he sits before
posterity silent, Mr. Forster's appeal echoing down the ages.
Horror is due to ourselves, in that we have so long coquetted
with political crime ; not seriously weighing, not acutely follow-
ing it from cause to consequence; but with a generous, un-
founded heat of sentiment, like the schoolboy with the penny
tale, applauding what was specious. When it touched ourselves
{truly in a vile shape), we proved false to these imaginations ;
discovered, in a clap, that crime was no less cruel and no less
ugly under sounding names; and recoiled from our false
deities.
But seriousness comes most in place when we are to speak of
3
THE DYNAMITER
our defenders. Whoever he in the right in this great and con-
fused war of politics; whatever elements of greed, whatever
traits of the bully, dishonour both parties in this inhuman
contest; — your side, your part, is at least pure of doubt.
Yours is the side of the child, of the breeding woman, of
individual pity and public trust. If our society were the mere
kingdom of the devil {as indeed it wears some of his colours)
it yet embraces many precious elements and many innocent
persons whom it is a glory to defend. Courage and devotion,
so common in the ranks of the police, so little recognised, so
meagrely rewarded, have at length found their commemoration
in an historical act. History, which will represent Mr. Parnell
sitting silent under the appeal of Mr. Forster, and Gordon
setting forth upon his tragic enterprise, will not forget Mr. Cole
carrying the dynamite in his d fenceless hands, nor Mr. Cox
coming coolly to his aid.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
FANNY FAN BE GRIFT STEVENSON.
CONTENTS
Dedication
Prologue of the Cigar Divan .
Challoner's Adventure : The Squire of Dames
Story of the Destroying Angel .
The Squire of Dames (concluded)
Somerset's Adventure : The Superfluous
Mansion ....
Narrative of the Spirited Old Lady
The Superfluous Mansion (continued) .
Zero's Tale of the Explosive Bomb
The Superfluous Mansion (continued) .
Desborough's Adventure : The Brown Box
Story of the Fair Cuban
The Brown Box (concluded)
The Superfluous Mansion (concluded) .
Epilogue of the Cigar Divan .
3
7
17
29
73
95
102
137
171
183
196
204
251
267
280
A NOTE FOR THE READER
It is within the bounds of possibility that you
may take up this volume, and yet be unacquainted
with its predecessor : the jirst series of ' New
Arabian Nights? The loss is yours — and mine ;
or, to be more exact, my publishers' 1 . But if you
are thus unlucky, the least I can do is to pass you a
hint. When you shall Jind a reference in the fol-
lowing pages to one Theophilus Godall, of the
Bohemian Cigar Divan in Rupert Street, Soho,
you must be prepared to recognise under Ms
features no less a person than Prince Florizel of
Bohemia, formerly one of the magnates qf Europe,
nozv dethroned, exiled, impoverished, and embarked
in the tobacco trade.
R. L. S.
PROLOGUE OF THE CIGAR DIVAN
In the city of encounters, the Bagdad of the West,
and, to be more precise, on the broad northern
pavement of Leicester Square, two young men of
five- or six-and-twenty met after years of separation.
The first, who was of a very smooth address, and
clothed in the best fashion, hesitated to recognise
the pinched and shabby air of his companion.
« What ! ' he cried, * Paul Somerset ! '
' 1 am indeed Paul Somerset,' returned the other,
'or what remains of him after a well-deserved ex-
perience of poverty and law. But in you, Challoner,
I can perceive no change; and time may be said,
without hyperbole, to write no wrinkle on your azure
brow.'
'All,' replied Challoner, ' is not gold that glitters.
But we are here in an ill posture for confidences, and
interrupt the movement of these ladies. Let us, if
you please, find a more private corner.'
'If you will allow me to guide you,' replied
Somerset, ' I will offer you the best cigar in London.'
And taking the arm of his companion, he led him
in silence and at a brisk pace to the door of a quiet
7
THE DYNAMITER
establishment in Rupert Street, Soho. The entrance
was adorned with one of those gigantic Highlanders
of wood which have almost risen to the standing of
antiquities ; and across the window-glass, which
sheltered the usual display of pipes, tobacco, and
cigars, there ran the gilded legend : * Bohemian Cigar
Divan, by T. Godall.' The interior of the shop was
small, but commodious and ornate ; the salesman
grave, smiling, and urbane ; and the two young men,
each puffing a select regalia, had soon taken their
places on a sofa of mouse-coloured plush, and pro-
ceeded to exchange their stories.
' I am now,' said Somerset, ' a barrister ; but
Providence and the attorneys have hitherto denied
me the opportunity to shine. A select society at
the Cheshire Cheese engaged my evenings ; my
afternoons, as Mr. Godall could testify, have been
generally passed in this divan ; and my mornings, I
have taken the precaution to abbreviate by not rising
before twelve. At this rate, my little patrimony
was very rapidly, and, I am proud to remember, most
agreeably expended. Since then a gentleman, who
has really nothing else to recommend him beyond
the fact of being my maternal uncle, deals me the
small sum of ten shillings a week ; and if you behold
me once more revisiting the glimpses of the street-
lamps in my favourite quarter, you will readily divine
that I have come into a fortune.'
' I should not have supposed so,' replied Challoner.
'But doubtless I met you on the way to your
tailors.'
8
THE CIGAR DIVAN
' It is a visit that I purpose to delay,' returned
Somerset, with a smile. 'My fortune has definite
limits. It consists, or rather this morning it con-
sisted, of one hundred pounds.'
* That is certainly odd,' said Challoner ; ' yes,
certainly the coincidence is strange. I am myself
reduced to the same margin.'
* You ! ' cried Somerset. ' And yet Solomon in
all his glory '
' Such is the fact. I am, dear boy, on my last
legs,' said Challoner. * Besides the clothes in which
you see me, I have scarcely a decent trouser in my
wardrobe ; and if I knew how, I would this instant
set about some sort of work or commerce. With a
hundred pounds for capital, a man should push his
way.'
' It may be,' returned Somerset ; ' but what to do
with mine is more than I can fancy. — Mr. Godall,'
he added, addressing the salesman, * you are a man
who knows the world : what can a young fellow of
reasonable education do with a hundred pounds ? '
'It depends,' replied the salesman, withdrawing
his cheroot. ' The power of money is an article of
faith in which I profess myself a sceptic. A hundred
pounds will with difficulty support you for a year ;
with somewhat more difficulty you may spend it in
a night ; and without any difficulty at all you may
lose it in five minutes on the Stock Exchange. If
you are of that stamp of man that rises, a penny
would be as useful ; if you belong to those that fall,
a penny would be no more useless. When I was
9
THE DYNAMITER
myself thrown unexpectedly upon the world, it was
my fortune to possess an art : I knew a good cigar.
Do you know nothing, Mr. Somerset ? '
' Not even law,' was the reply.
'The answer is worthy of a sage,' returned Mr.
Godall. — 'And you, sir,' he continued, turning to
Challoner, * as the friend of Mr. Somerset, may I be
allowed to address you the same question ? '
' Well,' replied Challoner, ' I play a fair hand at
whist'
' How many persons are there in London,' returned
the salesman, ' who have two-and-thirty teeth ?
Believe me, young gentleman, there are more still
who play a fair hand at whist. Whist, sir, is wide
as the world ; 'tis an accomplishment like breathing.
I once knew a youth who announced that he was
studying to be Chancellor of England; the design
was certainly ambitious ; but I find it less excessive
than that of the man who aspires to make a liveli-
hood by whist.'
'Dear me,' said Challoner, 'I am afraid I shall
have to fall to be a working man.'
' Fall to be a working man ? ' echoed Mr. Godall.
' Suppose a rural dean to be unfrocked, does he fall
to be a major ? suppose a captain were cashiered,
would he fall to be a puisne judge? The ignorance
of your middle class surprises me. Outside itself, it
thinks the world to lie quite ignorant and equal,
sunk in a common degradation ; but to the eye of
the observer, all ranks are seen to stand in ordered
hierarchies, and each adorned with its particular
10
THE CIGAR DIVAN
aptitudes and knowledge. By the defects of your
education you are more disqualified to be a working
man than to be the ruler of an empire. The gulf,
sir, is below ; and the true learned arts — those which
alone are safe from the competition of insurgent
laymen — are those which give his title to the artisan.'
' This is a very pompous fellow,' said Challoner in
the ear of his companion.
' He is immense,' said Somerset.
Just then the door of the divan was opened, and a
third young fellow made his appearance, and rather
bashfully requested some tobacco. He was younger
than the others ; and, in a somewhat meaningless
and altogether English way, he was a handsome lad.
When he had been served, and had lighted his pipe
and taken his place upon the sofa, he recalled him-
self to Challoner by the name of Desborough.
* Desborough, to be sure,' cried Challoner. * Well,
Desborough, and what do you do ? '
'The fact is,' said Desborough, 'that I am doing
nothing.'
' A private fortune possibly 1 ' inquired the other.
' Well, no,' replied Desborough, rather sulkily. ' The
fact is that I am waiting for something to turn up.'
' All *in the same boat ! ' cried Somerset. ' And
have you, too, one hundred pounds ? '
' Worse luck,' said Mr. Desborough.
'This is a very pathetic sight, Mr. Godall,' said
Somerset : ' three futiles.'
'A character of this crowded age,' returned the
salesman.
ii
THE DYNAMITER
'Sir,' said Somerset, *I deny that the age is
crowded ; I will admit one fact, and one fact only :
that I am futile, that he is futile, and that we are
all three as futile as the devil. What am I ? I
have smattered law, smattered letters, smattered
geography, smattered mathematics ; I have even a
working knowledge of judicial astrology ; and here
I stand, all London roaring by at the street's end,
as impotent as any baby. I have a prodigious
contempt for my maternal uncle ; but without him,
it is idle to deny it, J should simply resolve into my
elements like an unstable mixture. I begin to
perceive that it is necessary to know some one thing
to the bottom — were it only literature. And yet,
sir, the man of the world is a great feature of this
age ; he is possessed of an extraordinary mass and
variety of knowledge ; he is everywhere at home ;
he has seen life in all its phases ; and it is impossible
but that this great habit of existence should bear
fruit. I count myself a man of the world, accom-
plished, cap-a-pie. So do you, Challoner. And you,
Mr. Desborough ? '
* O yes,' returned the young man.
' Well then, Mr. Godall, here we stand, three men
of the world, without a trade to cover us, but
planted at the strategic centre of the universe (for
so you will allow me to call Rupert Street), in the
midst of the chief mass of people, and within ear-
shot of the most continuous chink of money on the
surface of the globe. Sir, as civilised men, what do
we do ? I will show you. You take in a paper ? '
12
THE CIGAR DIVAN
' I take/ said Mr. Godall solemnly, ' the best paper
in the world, the Standard.'
' Good,' resumed Somerset. ' I now hold it in my
hand, the voice of the world, a telephone repeating all
men's wants. I open it, and where my eye first falls-
well, no, not Morrison's Pills— but here, sure enough,
and but a little above, I find the joint that I was
seeking; here is the weak spot in the armour of
society. Here is a want, a plaint, an offer of substan-
tial gratitude : " Two Hundred Pounds Reward. —
The above reward will be paid to any person giving
information as to the identity and whereabouts of a
man observed yesterday in the neighbourhood of the
Green Park. He was over six feet in height, with
shoulders disproportionately broad, close shaved, with
black moustaches, and wearing a sealskin great-coat."
There, gentlemen, our fortune, if not made, is founded.'
' Do you then propose, dear boy, that we should
turn detectives ? ' inquired Challoner.
' Do I propose it ? No, sir,' cried Somerset. ' It
is reason, destiny, the plain face of the world, that
commands and imposes it. Here all our merits
tell; our manners, habit of the world, powers of
conversation, vast stores of unconnected knowledge,
all that we are and have builds up the character of
the complete detective. It is, in short, the only
profession for a gentleman.'
'The proposition is perhaps excessive,' replied
Challoner ; ' for hitherto I own I have regarded it
as of all dirty, sneaking, and ungentlemanly trades,
the least and lowest.'
!3
THE DYNAMITER
* To defend society ? ' asked Somerset ; ' to stake
one's life for others ? to deracinate occult and power-
ful evil? I appeal to Mr. Godall. He, at least,
as a philosophic looker-on at life, will spit upon such
philistine opinions. He knows that the policeman,
as he is called upon continually to face greater odds,
and that both worse equipped and for a better cause,
is in form and essence a more noble hero than the
soldier. Do you, by any chance, deceive yourself
into supposing that a general would either ask or
expect, from the best army ever marshalled, and on
the most momentous battlefield, the conduct of a
common constable at Peckham Rye ? ' 1
' I did not understand we were to join the force,'
said Challoner.
' Nor shall we. These are the hands ; but here —
here, sir, is the head,' cried Somerset. * Enough ; it
is decreed. We shall hunt down this miscreant in
the sealskin coat.'
* Suppose that we agreed,' retorted Challoner, ' you
have no plan, no knowledge ; you know not where
to seek for a beginning.'
* Challoner ! ' cried Somerset, * is it possible that
you hold the doctrine of Free Will ? And are you
1 Hereupon the Arabian author enters on one of his digressions. Fear-
ing, apparently, that the somewhat eccentric views of Mr. Somerset
should throw discredit on a part of truth, he calls upon the English
people to remember with more gratitude the services of the police ; to
what unobserved and solitary acts of heroism they are called ; against
what odds of numbers and of arms, and for how small a reward, either
in fame or money : matter, it has appeared to the translators, too serious
for this place.
H
THE CIGAR DIVAN
devoid of any tincture of philosophy, that you should
harp on such exploded fallacies ? Chance, the blind
Madonna of the Pagan, rules this terrestrial bustle ;
and in Chance I place my sole reliance. Chance has
brought us three together ; when we next separate
and go forth our several ways, Chance will continually
drag before our careless eyes a thousand eloquent
clues, not to this mystery only, but to the countless
mysteries by which we live surrounded. Then comes
the part of the man of the world, of the detective born
and bred. This clue, which the whole town beholds
without comprehension, swift as a cat, he leaps upon
it, makes it his, follows it with craft and passion, and
from one trifling circumstance divines a world.'
* Just so,' said Challoner ; * and I am delighted
that you should recognise these virtues in yourself.
But in the meanwhile, dear boy, I own myself in-
capable of joining. I was neither born nor bred as
a detective, but as a placable and very thirsty gentle-
man ; and, for my part, I begin to weary for a drink.
As for clues and adventures, the only adventure that
is ever likely to occur to me will be an adventure
with a bailiff.'
' Now there is the fallacy,' cried Somerset. ' There
I catch the secret of your futility in life. The world
teems and bubbles with adventure ; it besieges you
along the street ; hands waving out of windows,
swindlers coming up and swearing they knew you
when you were abroad, affable and doubtful people
of all sorts and conditions begging and truckling for
your notice. But not you : you turn away, you
15
THE DYNAMITER
walk your seedy mill round, you must go the dullest
way. Now here, I beg of you, the next adventure
that offers itself, embrace it in with both your arms ;
whatever it looks, grimy or romantic, grasp it. I
will do the like ; the devil is in it, but at least we
shall have fun ; and each in turn we shall narrate the
story of our fortunes to my philosophic friend of the
divan, the great Godall, now hearing me with inward
joy. Come, is it a bargain ? Will you, indeed, both
promise to welcome every chance that offers, to plunge
boldly into every opening, and, keeping the eye wary
and the head composed, to study and piece together
all that happens ? Come, promise : let me open to
you the doors of the great profession of intrigue.'
* It is not much in my way,' said Challoner, ' but,
since you make a point of it, amen.'
' I don't mind promising,' said Desborough, ' but
nothing will happen to me.'
' O faithless ones ! ' cried Somerset. ' But at least
I have your promises ; and Godall, I perceive, is
transported with delight.'
' I promise myself at least much pleasure from
your various narratives,' said the salesman, with the
customary calm polish of his manner.
'And now, gentlemen,' concluded Somerset, 'let
us separate. I hasten to put myself in fortune's
way. Hark how, in this quiet corner, London roars
like the noise of battle ; four million destinies are
here concentred ; and in the strong panoply of one
hundred pounds, payable to the bearer, I am about
to plunge into that web.'
16
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
CHALLONERS ADVENTURE: THE
SQUIRE OF DAMES
Mr. Edward Challoner had set up lodgings in
the suburb of Putney, where he enjoyed a parlour
and bedroom and the sincere esteem of the people of
the house. To this remote home he found himself,
at a very early hour in the morning of the next day,
condemned to set forth on foot. He was a young
man of a portly habit ; no lover of the exercises of
the body ; bland, sedentary, patient of delay, a prop
of omnibuses. In happier days he would have
chartered a cab ; but these luxuries were now denied
him ; and with what courage he could muster he
addressed himself to walk.
It was then the height of the season and the
summer ; the weather was serene and cloudless ; and
as he paced under the blinded houses and along the
vacant streets, the chill of the dawn had fled, and
some of the warmth and all the brightness of the
July day already shone upon the city. He walked
at first in a profound abstraction, bitterly reviewing
and repenting his performances at whist ; but as he
advanced into the labyrinth of the south-west, his
ear was gradually mastered by the silence. Street
7— b 17
THE DYNAMITER
after street looked down upon his solitary figure,
house after house echoed upon his passage with a
ghostly jar, shop after shop displayed its shuttered
front and its commercial legend ; and meanwhile he
steered his course, under day's effulgent dome and
through this encampment of diurnal sleepers, lonely
as a ship.
6 Here,' he reflected, * if I were like my scatter-
brained companion, here were indeed the scene where
I might look for an adventure. Here, in broad day,
the streets are secret as in the blackest night of
January, and in the midst of some four million
sleepers, solitary as the woods of Yucatan. If I but
raise my voice I could summon up the number of an
army, and yet the grave is not more silent than this
city of sleep.'
He was still following these quaint and serious
musings when he came into a street of more mingled
ingredients than was common in the quarter. Here,
on the one hand, framed in walls and the green tops
of trees, were several of those discreet, bijou resi-
dences on which propriety is apt to look askance.
Here, too, were many of the brick-fronted barracks
of the poor ; a plaster cow, perhaps, serving as
ensign to a dairy, or a ticket announcing the business
of the mangier. Before one such house, that stood
a little separate among walled gardens, a cat was
playing with a straw, and Challoner paused a
moment, looking on this sleek and solitary creature,
who seemed an emblem of the neighbouring peace.
With the cessation of the sound of his own steps the
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
silence fell dead ; the house stood smokeless ; the
blinds down, the whole machinery of life arrested ;
and it seemed to Challoner that he should hear the
breathing of the sleepers.
As he so stood, he was startled by a dull and jar-
ring detonation from within. This was followed by
a monstrous hissing and simmering as from a kettle
of the bigness of St. Paul's ; and at the same time
from every chink of door and window spurted an
ill-smelling vapour. The cat disappeared with a
cry. Within the lodging-house feet pounded on the
stairs ; the door flew back, emitting clouds of smoke ;
and two men and an elegantly dressed young lady
tumbled forth into the street and fled without a
word. The hissing had already ceased, the smoke
was melting in the air, the whole event had come
and gone as in a dream, and still Challoner was
rooted to the spot. At last his reason and his fear
awoke together, and with the most unwonted energy
he fell to running.
Little by little this first dash relaxed, and presently
he had resumed his sober gait and begun to piece to-
gether, out of the confused report of his senses, some
theory of the occurrence. But the occasion of the
sounds and stench that had so suddenly assailed him,
and the strange conjunction of fugitives whom he
had seen to issue from the house, were mysteries
beyond his plummet. With an obscure awe he con-
sidered them in his mind, continuing, meanwhile, to
thread the web of streets, and once more alone in
morning sunshine.
l 9
THE DYNAMITER
In his first retreat he had entirely wandered ; and
now, steering vaguely west, it was his luck to light
upon an unpretending street, which presently widened
so as to admit a strip of gardens in the midst. Here
was quite a stir of birds ; even at that hour, the
shadow of the leaves was grateful ; instead of the
burnt atmosphere of cities, there was something
brisk and rural in the air ; and Challoner paced for-
ward, his eyes upon the pavement and his mind
running upon distant scenes, till he was recalled,
upon a sudden, by a wall that blocked his further
progress. This street, whose name I have forgotten,
is no thoroughfare.
He was not the first who had wandered there that
morning ; for, as he raised his eyes with an agreeable
deliberation, they alighted on the figure of a girl, in
whom he was struck to recognise the third of the
incongruous fugitives. She had run there, seem-
ingly, blindfold ; the wall had checked her career ;
and being entirely wearied, she had sunk upon the
ground beside the garden railings, soiling her dress
among the summer dust. Each saw the other in
the same instant of time ; and she, with one wild
look, sprang to her feet and began to hurry from the
scene.
Challoner was doubly startled to meet once more
the heroine of his adventure and to observe the fear
with which she shunned him. Pity and alarm, in
nearly equal forces, contested the possession of his
mind ; and yet, in spite of both, he saw himself con-
demned to follow in the lady's wake. He did so
20
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
gingerly, as fearing to increase her terrors ; but,
tread as lightly as he might, his footfalls eloquently
echoed in the empty street. Their sound appeared
to strike in her some strong emotion ; for scarce
had he begun to follow ere she paused. A second
time she addressed herself to flight ; and a second
time she paused. Then she turned about, and, with
doubtful steps and the most attractive appearance of
timidity, drew near to the young man. He on his
side continued to advance with similar signals of
distress and bashfulness. At length, when they
were but some steps apart, he saw her eyes brim
over, and she reached out both her hands in eloquent
appeal.
' Are you an English gentleman ? ' she cried.
The unhappy Challoner regarded her with con-
sternation. He was the spirit of fine courtesy, and
would have blushed to fail in his devoirs to any lady ;
but, in the other scale, he was a man averse from
amorous adventures. He looked east and west ; but
the houses that looked down upon this interview
remained inexorably shut ; and he saw himself,
though in the full glare of the day's eye, cut off
from any human intervention. His looks returned
at last upon the suppliant. He remarked with
irritation that she was charming both in face and
figure, elegantly dressed and gloved : a lady undeni-
able ; the picture of distress and innocence ; weeping
and lost in the city of diurnal sleep.
' Madam,' he said, ' I protest you have no cause
to fear intrusion ; and if I have appeared to follow
21
THE DYNAMITER
you, the fault is in this street, which has deceived us
both.'
An unmistakable relief appeared upon the lady's
face. ' I might have guessed it ! ' she exclaimed.
' Thank you a thousand times ! But at this hour,
in this appalling silence, and among all these staring
windows, I am lost in terrors — oh, lost in them ! '
she cried, her face blanching at the words. * I beg
you to lend me your arm,' she added with the love-
liest, suppliant inflection. ' I dare not go alone ;
my nerve is gone — I had a shock, O what a shock !
I beg of you to be my escort.'
* My dear madam,' responded Challoner heavily,
' my arm is at your service.'
She took it and clung to it for a moment,
struggling with her sobs ; and the next, with feverish
hurry, began to lead him in the direction of the city.
One thing was plain, among so much that was
obscure : it was plain her fears were genuine. Still,
as she went, she spied around as if for dangers ; and
now she would shiver like a person in a chill, and
now clutch his arm in hers. To Challoner her terror
was at once repugnant and infectious ; it gained
and mastered, while it still offended him ; and he
wailed in spirit and longed for release.
' Madam,' he said at last, ' I am, of course, charmed
to be of use to any lady ; but I confess I was bound
in a direction opposite to that you follow, and a
word of explanation '
* Hush ! ' she sobbed, * not here — not here ! '
The blood of Challoner ran cold. He might have
22
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
thought the lady mad ; but his memory was charged
with more perilous stuff ; and in view of the detona-
tion, the smoke and the flight of the ill-assorted trio,
his mind was lost among mysteries. So they con-
tinued to thread the maze of streets in silence, with
the speed of a guilty flight, and both thrilling with in-
communicable terrors. In time, however, and above
all by their quick pace of walking, the pair began to
rise to firmer spirits ; the lady ceased to peer about
the corners ; and Challoner, emboldened by the
resonant tread and distant figure of a constable, re-
turned to the charge with more of spirit and directness.
* I thought,' said he, in the tone of conversation,
'that I had indistinctly perceived you leaving a villa
in the company of two gentlemen.'
* Oh!' she said, 'you need not fear to wound me by
the truth. You saw me flee from a common lodging-
house, and my companions were not gentlemen. In
such a case, the best of compliments is to be frank.'
'I thought,' resumed Challoner, encouraged as
much as he was surprised by the spirit of her reply,
' to have perceived, besides, a certain odour. A noise,
too — I do not know to what I should compare it '
' Silence ! ' she cried. ' You do not know the
danger you invoke. Wait, only wait ; and as soon as
we have left those streets and got beyond the reach
of listeners, all shall be explained. Meanwhile
avoid the topic. What a sight is this sleeping city ! '
she exclaimed ; and then, with a most thrilling voice,
' "Dear God," ' she quoted, ' "the very houses seem
asleep, and all that mighty heart is lying still."
23
THE DYNAMITER
' I perceive, madam,' said he, 'you are a reader.'
' I am more than that,' she answered, with a sigh.
' I am a girl condemned to thoughts beyond her age ;
and so untoward is my fate, that this walk upon
the arm of a stranger is like an interlude of peace.'
They had come by this time to the neighbourhood
of the Victoria Station ; and here, at a street corner,
the young lady paused, withdrew her arm from
Challoner's, and looked up and down as though in
pain or indecision. Then, with a lovely change of
countenance, and laying her gloved hand upon his
arm :
' What you already think of me,' she said, ' I
tremble to conceive ; yet I must here condemn
myself still further. Here I must leave you, and
here I beseech you to wait for my return. Do not
attempt to follow me or spy upon my actions. Sus-
pend yet a while your judgment of a girl as innocent
as your own sister; and do not, above all, desert
me. Stranger as you are, I have none else to look
to. You see me in sorrow and great fear ; you are
a gentleman, courteous and kind ; and when I beg
for a few minutes' patience, I make sure beforehand
you will not deny me.'
Challoner grudgingly promised ; and the young
lady, with a grateful eye-shot, vanished round the
corner. But the force of her appeal had been a little
blunted ; for the young man was not only destitute
of sisters, but of any female relative nearer than a
great-aunt in Wales. Now he was alone, besides,
the spell that he had hitherto obeyed began to
24
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
weaken ; he considered his behaviour with a sneer ;
and plucking up the spirit of revolt, he started in
pursuit. The reader, if he has ever plied the fas-
cinating trade of the noctambulist, will not be
unaware that, in the neighbourhood of the great
railway centres, certain early taverns inaugurate the
business of the day. It was into one of these that
Challoner, coming round the corner of the block,
beheld his charming companion disappear. To say
he was surprised were inexact, for he had long since
left that sentiment behind him. Acute disgust and
disappointment seized upon his soul ; and with silent
oaths he damned this commonplace enchantress.
She had scarce been gone a second ere the swing-
doors re-opened, and she appeared again in 'company
with a young man of mean and slouching attire.
For some five or six exchanges they conversed
together with an animated air ; then the fellow
shouldered again into the tap ; and the young lady,
with something swifter than a walk, retraced her
steps towards Challoner. He saw her coming, a
miracle of grace ; her ankle, as she hurried, flashing
from her dress ; her movements eloquent of speed
and youth ; and though he still entertained some
thoughts of flight, they grew miserably fainter as
the distance lessened. Against mere beauty he was
proof: it was her unmistakable gentility that now
robbed him of the courage of his cowardice. With
a proved adventuress he had acted strictly on his
right ; with one whom, in spite of all, he could not
quite deny to be a lady, he found himself disarmed.
25
THE DYNAMITER
At the very corner from whence he had spied upon
her interview, she came upon him, still transfixed,
and — ' Ah ! ' she cried, with a bright flush of colour.
' Ah ! Ungenerous ! '
The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored
the Squire of Dames to the possession of himself.
' Madam,' he returned, with a fair show of stout-
ness, ' I do not think that hitherto you can complain
of any lack of generosity ; I have suffered myself to
be led over a considerable portion of the metropolis ;
and if I now request you to discharge me of my
office of protector, you have friends at hand who will
be glad of the succession.'
She stood a moment dumb.
' It is well,' she said. ' Go ! go, and may God
help me ! You have seen me — me, an innocent girl !
fleeing from a dire catastrophe and haunted by
sinister men ; and neither pity, curiosity, nor honour
move you to await my explanation or to help in my
distress. Go ! ' she repeated. ' I am lost indeed. '
And with a passionate gesture she turned and fled
along the street.
Challoner observed her retreat and disappear, an
almost intolerable sense of guilt contending with the
profound sense that he was being gulled. She was
no sooner gone than the first of these feelings took
the upper hand ; he felt, if he had done her less than
justice, that his conduct was a perfect model of the
ungracious ; the cultured tone of her voice, her
choice of language, and the elegant decorum of her
movements, cried out aloud against a harsh con-
26
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
struction ; and between penitence and curiosity he
began slowly to follow in her wake. At the corner
he had her once more full in view. Her speed was
failing like a stricken bird's. Even as he looked,
she threw her arm out gropingly, and fell and leaned
against the wall. At the spectacle, Challoner's for-
titude gave way. In a few strides he overtook her,
and for the first time removing his hat, assured her
in the most moving terms of his entire respect and
firm desire to help her. He spoke at first unheeded ;
but gradually it appeared that she began to com-
prehend his words ; she moved a little, and drew
herself upright ; and finally, as with a sudden move-
ment of forgiveness, turned on the young man a
countenance in which reproach and gratitude were
mingled. 'Ah, madam,' he cried, 'use me as you
will ! ' And once more, but now with a great air of
deference, he offered her the conduct of his arm.
She took it with a sigh that struck him to the heart ;
and they began once more to trace the deserted
streets. But now her steps, as though exhausted by
emotion, began to finger on the way ; she leaned
the more heavily upon his arm ; and he, like the
parent bird, stooped fondly above his drooping con-
voy. Her physical distress was not accompanied by
any failing of her spirits ; and hearing her strike so
soon into a playful and charming vein of talk, Chal-
loner could not sufficiently admire the elasticity of
his companion's nature. 'Let me forget,' she had
said, ' for one half-hour, let me forget ' ; and sure
enough, with the very word, her sorrows appeared
27
THE DYNAMITER
to be forgotten. Before every house she paused,
invented a name for the proprietor, and sketched his
character : here lived the old general whom she was
to marry on the fifth of the next month, there was
the mansion of the rich widow who had set her heart
on Challoner ; and though she still hung wearily on
the young man's arm, her laughter sounded low and
pleasant in his ears. 'Ah,' she sighed, by way of
commentary, 'in such a life as mine I must seize
tight hold of any happiness that I can find.'
When they arrived, in this leisurely manner, at
the head of Grosvenor Place, the gates of the park
were opening, and the bedraggled company of night-
walkers were being at last admitted into that
paradise of lawns. Challoner and his companion
followed the movement, and walked for a while in
silence in that tatterdemalion crowd ; but as one
after another, weary with the night's patrolling of
the city pavement, sank upon the benches or wan-
dered into separate paths, the vast extent of the
park had soon utterly swallowed up the last of these
intruders ; and the pair proceeded on their way alone
in the grateful quiet of the morning.
Presently they came in sight of a bench, standing
very open on a mound of turf. The young lady
looked about her with relief.
' Here,' she said, ' here at last we are secure from
listeners. Here, then, you shall learn and judge my
history. I could not bear that we should part, and
that you should still suppose your kindness squan-
dered upon one who was unworthy.'
28
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
Thereupon she sat down upon the bench, and
motioning Challoner to take a place immediately
beside her, began in the following words, and with
the greatest appearance of enjoyment, to narrate the
story of her life.
STORY OF THE DESTROYING ANGEL
My father was a native of England, son of a cadet of
a great ancient but untitled family ; and by some
event, fault, or misfortune he was driven to flee from
the land of his birth and to lay aside the name of his
ancestors. He sought the States ; and instead of
lingering in effeminate cities, pushed at once into
the Far West with an exploring party of frontiersmen.
He was no ordinary traveller ; for he was not only
brave and impetuous by character, but learned in
many sciences, and above all in botany, which he
particularly loved. Thus it fell that, before many
months, Fremont himself, the nominal leader of the
troop, courted and bowed to his opinion.
They had pushed, as I have said, into the still
unknown regions of the West. For some time they
followed the track of Mormon caravans, guiding
themselves in that vast and melancholy desert by
the skeletons of men and animals. Then they in-
clined their route a little to the north, and, losing
even these dire memorials, came into a country of
forbidding stillness. I have often heard my father
dwell upon the features of that ride : rock, cliff, and
29
THE DYNAMITER
barren moor alternated ; the streams were very far
between ; and neither beast nor bird disturbed the
solitude. On the fortieth day they had already run
so short of food that it was judged advisable to call
a halt and scatter upon all sides to hunt. A great
fire was built, that its smoke might serve to rally
them ; and each man of the party mounted and
struck off at a venture into the surrounding desert.
My father rode for many hours with a steep range
of cliffs upon the one hand, very black and horrible ;
and upon the other an un watered vale dotted with
boulders like the site of some subverted city. At
length he found the slot of a great animal, and, from
the claw-marks and the hair among the brush, judged
that he was on the track of a cinnamon bear of most
unusual size. He quickened the pace of his steed,
and, still following the quarry, came at last to the
division of two watersheds. On the far side the
country was exceeding intricate and difficult, heaped
with boulders, and dotted here and there with a few
pines, which seemed to indicate the neighbourhood
of water. Here, then, he picketed his horse, and,
relying on his trusty rifle, advanced alone into that
wilderness.
Presently, in the great silence that reigned, he was
aware of the sound of running water to his right;
and leaning in that direction, was rewarded by a
scene of natural wonder and human pathos strangely
intermixed. The stream ran at the bottom of a
narrow and winding passage, whose wall-like sides of
rock were sometimes for miles together unscalable
30
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
by man. The water, when the stream was swelled
with rains, must have filled it from side to side ; the
sun's rays only plumbed it in the hour of noon ; the
wind, in that narrow and damp funnel, blew tem-
pestuously. And yet, in the bottom of this den,
immediately below my father's eyes as he leaned
over the margin of the cliff, a party of some half a
hundred men, women, and children lay scattered
uneasily among the rocks. They lay, some upon
their backs, some prone, and not one stirring ; then*
upturned faces seemed all of an extraordinary pale-
ness and emaciation ; and from time to time, above
the washing of the stream, a faint sound of moaning
mounted to my father's ears.
While he thus looked, an old man got staggering
to his feet, unwound his blanket, and laid it, with
great gentleness, on a young girl who sat hard by
propped against a rock. The girl did not seem to be
conscious of the act ; and the old man, after having
looked upon her with the most engaging pity, re-
turned to his former bed and lay down again
uncovered on the turf. But the scene had not
passed without observation even in that starving
camp. From the very outskirts of the party, a
man with a white beard, and seemingly of vener-
able years, rose up on his knees and came crawling
stealthily among the sleepers towards the girl ; and,
judge of my father's indignation, when he beheld
this cowardly miscreant strip from her both the
coverings and return with them to his original
position. Here he lay down for a while below his
3i
THE DYNAMITER
spoils, and, as my father imagined, feigned to be
asleep ; but presently he had raised himself again
upon one elbow, looked with sharp scrutiny at his
companions, and then swiftly carried his hand into
his bosom and thence to his mouth. By the move-
ment of his jaws he must be eating ; in that camp of
famine he had reserved a store of nourishment ; and,
while his companions lay in the stupor of approach-
ing death, secretly restored his powers.
My father was so incensed at what he saw that he
raised his rifle ; and but for an accident, he has often
declared, he would have shot the fellow dead upon
the spot. How different would then have been my
history ! But it was not to be : even as he raised
the barrel, his eye lighted on the bear, as it crawled
along a ledge some way below him ; and ceding to
the hunter's instinct, it was at the brute, not at the
man, that he discharged his piece. The bear leaped
and fell into a pool of the river ; the canon re-
echoed the report ; and in a moment the camp was
afoot. With cries that were scarce human, stum-
bling, falling and throwing each other down, these
starving people rushed upon the quarry ; and before
my father, climbing down by the ledge, had time to
reach the level of the stream, many were already
satisfying their hunger on the raw flesh, and a fire
was being built by the more dainty.
His arrival was for some time unremarked. He
stood in the midst of these tottering and clay-faced
marionettes ; he was surrounded by their cries ; but
their whole soul was fixed on the dead carcase ; even
32
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
those who were too weak to move, lay, half-turned
over, with their eyes riveted upon the bear ; and my
father, seeing himself stand as though invisible in the
thick of this dreary hubbub, was seized with a desire
to weep. A touch upon the arm restrained him.
Turning about, he found himself face to face with
the old man he had so nearly killed ; and yet, at the
second glance, recognised him for no old man at all,
but one in the full strength of his years, and of
a strong, speaking, and intellectual countenance
stigmatised by weariness and famine. He beckoned
my father near the cliff, and there, in the most
private whisper, begged for brandy. My father
looked at him with scorn: 'You remind me,' he
said, ' of a neglected duty. Here is my flask ; it
contains enough, I trust, to revive the women of
your party ; and I will begin with her whom I saw
you robbing of her blankets.' And with that, not
heeding his appeals, my father turned his back upon
the egoist.
The girl still lay reclined against the rock; she
lay too far sunk in the first stage of death to have
observed the bustle round her couch ; but when my
father had raised her head, put the flask to her lips,
and forced or aided her to swallow some drops of
the restorative, she opened her languid eyes and
smiled upon him faintly. Never was there a smile
of a more touching sweetness ; never were eyes more
deeply violet, more honestly eloquent of the soul ! I
speak with knowledge, for these were the same eyes
that smiled upon me in the cradle. From her who
7— c 33
THE DYNAMITER,
was to be his wife, my father, still jealously watched
and followed by the man with the grey beard, carried
his attentions to all the women of the party, and
gave the last dramings of his flask to those among
the men who seemed in the most need.
'Is there none left? not a drop for me?' said the
man with the beard.
' Not one drop,' replied my father ; ' and if you find
yourself in want, let me counsel you to put your
hand into the pocket of your coat.'
' Ah ! ' cried the other, ' you misjudge me. You
think me one who clings to life for selfish and com-
monplace considerations. But let me tell you, that
were all this caravan to perish, the world would but
be lightened of a weight. These are but human
insects, pullulating, thick as may-flies, in the slums
of European cities, whom I myself have plucked
from degradation and misery, from the dung-heap
and gin-palace door. And you compare their lives
with mine ! '
'You are then a Mormon missionary?' asked my
father.
' Oh ! ' cried the man, with a strange smile, ' a
Mormon missionary if you will! I value not the
title. Were I no more than that, I could have
died without a murmur. But with my life as a
physician is bound up the knowledge of great secrets
and the future of man. This it was, when we missed
the caravan, tried for a short cut and wandered to
this desolate ravine, that ate into my soul and, in five
days, has changed my beard from ebony to silver.'
34
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
'And you are a physician,' mused my father, look-
ing on his face, ' bound by oath to succour man in
his distresses.'
* Sir,' returned the Mormon, ' my name is Grierson:
you will hear that name again ; and you will then
understand that my duty was not to this caravan of
paupers, but to mankind at large.'
My father turned to the remainder of the party,
who were now sufficiently revived to hear ; told them
that he would set off at once to bring help from his
own party ; ' and,' he added, ' if you be again reduced
to such extremities, look round you, and you will see
the earth strewn with assistance. Here, for instance,
growing on the under-side of fissures in this cliff, you
will perceive a yellow moss. Trust me, it is both
edible and excellent.'
' Ha ! ' said Dr. Grierson, ' you know botany ! '
'Not I alone,' returned my father, lowering his
voice ; ' for see where these have been scraped away.
Am I right ? Was that your secret store ? '
My father's comrades, he found, when he returned
to the signal-fire, had made a good day's hunting.
They were thus the more easily persuaded to extend
assistance to the Mormon caravan ; and the next day
beheld both parties on the march for the frontiers of
Utah. The distance to be traversed was not great ;
but the nature of the country and the difficulty of
procuring food extended the time to nearly three
weeks ; and my father had thus ample leisure to
know and appreciate the girl whom he had suc-
coured. I will call my mother Lucy. Her family
35
THE DYNAMITER
name I am not at liberty to mention ; it is one you
would know well. By what series of undeserved
calamities this innocent flower of maidenhood, lovely,
refined by education, ennobled by the finest taste,
was thus cast among the horrors of a Mormon cara-
van, I must not stay to tell you. Let it suffice, that
even in these untoward circumstances, she found a
heart worthy of her own. The ardour of attachment
which united my father and mother was perhaps
partly due to the strange manner of their meeting ;
it knew, at least, no bounds, either divine or human ;
my father, for her sake, determined to renounce his
ambitions and abjure his faith ; and a week had not
yet passed upon the march before he had resigned
from his party, accepted the Mormon doctrine, and
received the promise of my mother's hand on the
arrival of the party at Salt Lake.
The marriage took place, and I was its only off-
spring. My father prospered exceedingly in his
affairs, remained faithful to my mother ; and, though
you may wonder to hear it, I believe there were few
happier homes in any country than that in which I
saw the light and grew to girlhood. We were, in-
deed, and in spite of all our wealth, avoided as
heretics and half-believers by the more precise and
pious of the faithful: Young himself, that formid-
able tyrant, was known to look askance upon my
father's riches ; but of this I had no guess. I dwelt,
indeed, under the Mormon system, with perfect inno-
cence and faith. Some of our friends had many wives ;
but such was the custom ; and why should it surprise
36
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
me more than marriage itself? From time to time
one of our rich acquaintances would disappear, his
family be broken up, his wives and houses shared
among the elders of the church, and his memory only
recalled with bated breath and dreadful head-shakings.
When I had been very still, and my presence perhaps
was forgotten, some such topic would arise among my
elders by the evening fire ; I would see them draw
the closer together and look behind them with scared
eyes ; and I might gather from their whisperings how
some one, rich, honoured, healthy, and in the prime
of his days, some one, perhaps, who had taken me
on his knees a week before, had in one hour been
spirited from home and family, and vanished like an
image from a mirror, leaving not a print behind. It
was terrible, indeed, but so was death, the universal
law. And even if the talk should wax still bolder,
full of ominous silences and nods, and I should hear
named in a whisper the Destroying Angels, how was
a child to understand these mysteries ? I heard of a
Destroying Angel as some more happy child might
hear in England of a bishop or a rural dean, with
vague respect and without the wish for further
information. Life anywhere, in society as in nature,
rests upon dread foundations ; I beheld safe roads, a
garden blooming in the desert, pious people crowd-
ing to worship ; I was aware of my parents' tender-
ness and all the harmless luxuries of my existence ;
and why should I pry beneath this honest seeming
surface for the mysteries on which it stood ?
We dwelt originally in the city ; but at an early
37
THE DYNAMITER
date we moved to a beautiful house in a green dingle,
musical with splashing water, and surrounded on
almost every side by twenty miles of poisonous and
rocky desert. The city was thirty miles away ; there
was but one road, which went no farther than my
father's door ; the rest were bridle-tracks impassable
in winter; and we thus dwelt in a solitude incon-
ceivable to the European. Our only neighbour was
Dr. Grierson. To my young eyes, after the hair-
oiled, chin-bearded elders of the city, and the ill-
favoured and mentally stunted women of their
harems, there was something agreeable in the
correct manner, the fine bearing, the thin white
hair and beard, and the piercing looks of the old
doctor. Yet, though he was almost our only visitor,
I never wholly overcame a sense of fear in his
presence ; and this disquietude was rather fed by the
awful solitude in which he lived and the obscurity
that hung about his occupations. His house was
but a mile or two from ours, but very differently
placed. It stood overlooking the road on the sum-
mit of a steep slope, and planted close against a
range of overhanging bluffs. Nature, you would
say, had here desired to imitate the works of man ;
for the slope was even, like the glacis of a fort, and
the cliffs of a constant height, like the ramparts of a
city. Not even spring could change one feature of
that desolate scene ; and the windows looked down
across a plain, snowy with alkali, to ranges of cold
stone sierras on the north. Twice or thrice I re-
member passing within view of this forbidding resi-
38
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
dence ; and seeing it always shuttered, smokeless,
and deserted, I remarked to my parents that some
day it would certainly be robbed.
* Ah, no,' said my father, ' never robbed ' ; and I
observed a strange conviction in his tone.
At last, and not long before the blow fell on my
unhappy family, I chanced to see the doctor's house
in a new light. My father was ill ; my mother con-
fined to his bedside ; and I was suffered to go, under
the charge of our driver, to the lonely house some
twenty miles away, where our packages were left
for us. The horse cast a shoe ; night overtook us
half-way home ; and it was well on for three in the
morning when the driver and I, alone in a light
waggon, came to that part of the road which ran
below the doctor's house. The moon swam clear;
the cliffs and mountains in this strong light lay
utterly deserted ; but the house, from its station on
the top of the long slope and close under the bluff,
not only shone abroad from every window like a
place of festival, but from the great chimney at the
west end poured forth a coil of smoke so thick and
so voluminous, that it hung for miles along the
windless night-air, and its shadow lay far abroad in
the moonlight upon the glittering alkali. As we
continued to draw near, besides, a regular and pant-
ing throb began to divide the silence. First it
seemed to me like the beating of a heart; and
next it put into my mind the thought of some giant,
smothered under mountains, and still, with incalcul-
able effort, fetching breath. I had heard of the
39
THE DYNAMITER
railway, though I had not seen it, and I turned to
ask the driver if this resembled it. But some look
in his eye, some pallor, whether of fear or moonlight
on his face, caused the words to die upon my lips.
We continued, therefore, to advance in silence, till
we were close below the lighted house ; when sud-
denly, without one premonitory rustle, there burst
forth a report of such a bigness that it shook the
earth and set the echoes of the mountains thunder-
ing from cliff to cliff. A pillar of amber flame
leaped from the chimney-top and fell in multitudes
of sparks ; and at the same time the lights in the
windows turned for one instant ruby red and then
expired. The driver had checked his horse instinc-
tively, and the echoes were still rumbling farther off
among the mountains, when there broke from the
now darkened interior a series of yells — whether
of man or woman it was impossible to guess — the
door flew open, and there ran forth into the moon-
light, at the top of the long slope, a figure clad
in white, which began to dance and leap and throw
itself down, and roll as if in agony, before the house.
I could no more restrain my cries ; the driver laid
his lash about the horse's flank, and we fled up the
rough track at the peril of our lives ; and did not
draw rein till, turning the corner of the mountain,
we beheld my father's ranch and deep, green groves
and gardens, sleeping in the tranquil light.
This was the one adventure of my life, until my
father had climbed to the very topmost point of
material prosperity, and I myself had reached the
40
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
age of seventeen. I was still innocent and merry
like a child ; tended my garden or ran upon the
hills in glad simplicity ; gave not a thought to
coquetry or to material cares ; and if my eye rested
on my own image in a mirror or some sylvan spring,
it was to seek and recognise the features of my
parents. But the fears which had long pressed on
others were now to be laid on my youth. I had
thrown myself, one sultry, cloudy afternoon, on a
divan ; the windows stood open on the verandah,
where my mother sat with her embroidery; and
when my father joined her from the garden, their
conversation, clearly audible to me, was of so start-
ling a nature that it held me enthralled where I
lay.
" The blow has come,' my father said, after a long
pause.
I could hear my mother start and turn, but in
words she made no reply.
'Yes,' continued my father, 'I have received to-
day a list of all that I possess ; of all, I say ; of what
I have lent privately to men whose lips are sealed
with terror; of what I have buried with my own
hand on the bare mountain, when there was not a
bird in heaven. Does the air, then, carry secrets ?
Are the hills of glass ? Do the stones we tread upon
preserve the footprint to betray us ? Oh, Lucy,
Lucy, that we should have come to such a country ! '
' But this,' returned my mother, ' is no very new
or very threatening event. You are accused of some
concealment. You will pay more taxes in the future,
4i
THE DYNAMITER
and be mulcted in a fine. It is disquieting, indeed,
to find our acts so spied upon, and the most private
known. But is this new ? Have we not long feared
and suspected every blade of grass \ '
' Ay, and our shadows ! ' cried my father. ' But
all this is nothing. Here is the letter that accom-
panied the list.'
I heard my mother turn the pages ; and she was
some time silent.
' I see,' she said at last ; and then, with the tone
of one reading : ' " From a believer so largely blessed
by Providence with this world's goods," ' she con-
tinued, ' " the Church awaits in confidence some
signal mark of piety." There lies the sting. Am
I not right ? These are the words you fear ? '
' These are the words,' replied my father. 'Lucy,
you remember Priestley ? Two days before he dis-
appeared, he carried me to the summit of an isolated
butte ; we could see around us for ten miles ; sure,
if in any quarter of this land a man were safe from
spies, it were in such a station ; but it was in the
very ague-fit of terror that he told me, and that
I heard, his story. He had received a letter such as
this ; and he submitted to my approval an answer in
which he offered to resign a third of his possessions.
I conjured him, as he valued life, to raise his offer-
ing ; and, before we parted, he had doubled the
amount. Well, two days later he was gone — gone
from the chief street of the city in the hour of noon
— and gone for ever. O God ! ' cried my father, ' by
what art do they thus spirit out of life the solid
42
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
body ? What death do they command that leaves
no traces ? that this material structure, these strong
arms, this skeleton that can resist the grave for
centuries, should be thus reft in a moment from
the world of sense ? A horror dwells in that thought
more awful than mere death.'
* Is there no hope in Grierson ? ' asked my mother.
'Dismiss the thought,' replied my father. 'He
now knows all that I can teach, and will do naught
to save me. His power, besides, is small, his own
danger not improbably more imminent than mine;
for he, too, lives apart ; he leaves his wives neglected
and unwatched ; he is openly cited for an unbeliever;
and unless he buys security at a more awful price —
but no ; I will not believe it : I have no love for him,
but I will not believe it.'
* Believe what ? ' asked my mother ; and then, with
a change of note, ' But oh, what matters it ? ' she
cried. « Abimelech, there is but one way open : we
must fly ! '
* It is in vain,' returned my father. ' I should but
involve you in my fate. To leave this land is hope-
less : we are closed in it as men are closed in life ;
and there is no issue but the grave.'
' We can but die then,' replied my mother. * Let
us at least die together. Let not Asenath 1 and
myself survive you. Think to what a fate we should
be doomed ! '
My father was unable to resist her tender violence;
and though I could see he nourished not one spark
1 In this name the accent falls upon the e ; the s is sibilant.
43
THE DYNAMITER
of hope, he consented to desert his whole estate,
beyond some hundreds of dollars that he had by
him at the moment, and to flee that night, which
promised to be dark and cloudy. As soon as the
servants were asleep, he was to load two mules with
provisions ; two others were to carry my mother and
myself; and, striking through the mountains by an
unfrequented trail, we were to make a fair stroke for
liberty and life. As soon as they had thus decided,
I showed myself at the window, and, owning that I
had heard all, assured them that they could rely on
my prudence and devotion. I had no fear, indeed,
but to show myself unworthy of my birth ; I held
my life in my hand without alarm ; and when my
father, weeping upon my neck, had blessed Heaven
for the courage of his child, it was with a sentiment
of pride and some of the joy that warriors take in
war, that I began to look forward to the perils of our
flight.
Before midnight, under an obscure and starless
heaven, we had left far behind us the plantations of
the valley, and were mounting a certain canon in
the hills, narrow, encumbered with great rocks, and
echoing with the roar of a tumultuous torrent. Cas-
cade after cascade thundered and hung up its flag of
whiteness in the night, or fanned our faces with the
wet wind of its descent. The trail was break-neck,
and led to famine-guarded deserts ; it had been long
since deserted for more practicable routes ; and it
was now a part of the world untrod from year to
year by human footing. Judge of our dismay when,
44
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
turning suddenly an angle of the cliffs, we found a
bright bonfire blazing by itself under an impending
rock ; and on the face of the rock, drawn very rudely
with charred wood, the great Open Eye which is the
emblem of the Mormon faith. We looked upon each
other in the firelight ; my mother broke into a
passion of tears ; but not a word was said. The
mules were turned about; and leaving that great
eye to guard the lonely canon, we retraced our
steps in silence. Day had not yet broken ere we
were once more at home, condemned beyond reprieve.
What answer my father sent I was not told ; but
two days later, a little before sundown, I saw a
plain, honest-looking man ride slowly up the road in
a great pother of dust. He was clad in homespun,
with a broad straw hat ; wore a patriarchal beard ;
and had an air of a simple rustic farmer, that was,
in my eyes, very reassuring. He was, indeed, a very
honest man and pious Mormon ; with no liking for
his errand, though neither he nor any one in Utah
dared to disobey ; and it was with every mark of
diffidence that he had had himself announced as
Mr. Aspinwall, and entered the room where our
unhappy family was gathered. My mother and me
he awkwardly enough dismissed ; and as soon as he
was alone with my father laid before him a blank
signature of President Young's, and offered him a
choice of services : either to set out as a missionary
to the tribes about the White Sea, or to join the
next day, with a party of Destroying Angels, in the
massacre of sixty German immigrants. The last, of
45
THE DYNAMITER
course, my father could not entertain, and the first
he regarded as a pretext : even if he could consent
to leave his wife defenceless, and to collect fresh
victims for the tyranny under which he was himself
oppressed, he felt sure he would never be suffered to
return. He refused both ; and Aspinwall, he said,
betrayed sincere emotion, part religious, at the spec-
tacle of such disobedience, but part human, in pity
for my father and his family. He besought him to
reconsider his decision ; and at length, finding he
could not prevail, gave him till the moon rose to
settle his affairs, and say farewell to wife and
daughter. 'For,' said he, 'then, at the latest, you
must ride with me.'
I dare not dwell upon the hours that followed :
they fled all too fast ; and presently the moon out-
topped the eastern range, and my father and Mr.
Aspinwall set forth, side by side, on their nocturnal
journey. My mother, though still bearing an heroic
countenance, had hastened to shut herself in her
apartment, thenceforward solitary; and I, alone in
the dark house, and consumed by grief and appre-
hension, made haste to saddle my Indian pony, to
ride up to the corner of the mountain, and to enjoy
one farewell sight of my departing father. The two
men had set forth at a deliberate pace ; nor was I
long behind them, when I reached the point of view.
I was the more amazed to see no moving creature in
the landscape. The moon, as the saying is, shone
bright as day ; and nowhere, under the whole arch of
night, was there a growing tree, a bush, a farm, a
46
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
patch of tillage, or any evidence of man, but one.
From the corner where I stood, a rugged bastion of
the line of bluffs concealed the doctor's house ; and
across the top of that projection the soft night wind
carried and unwound about the hills a coil of sable
smoke. What fuel could produce a vapour so
sluggish to dissipate in that dry air, or what furnace
pour it forth so copiously, I was unable to conceive ;
but I knew well enough that it came from the
doctor's chimney ; I saw well enough that my father
had already disappeared ; and in despite of reason, I
connected in my mind the loss of that dear pro-
tector with the ribbon of foul smoke that trailed
along the mountains.
Days passed, and still my mother and I waited in
vain for news ; a week went by, a second followed,
but we heard no word of the father and husband.
As smoke dissipates, as the image glides from the
mirror, so in the ten or twenty minutes that I had
spent in getting my horse and following upon his
trail, had that strong and brave man vanished out
of life. Hope, if any hope we had, fled with every
hour ; the worst was now certain for my father, the
worst was to be dreaded for his defenceless family.
Without weakness, with a desperate calm at which
I marvel when I look back upon it, the widow and
the orphan awaited the event. On the last day of
the third week we rose in the morning to find
ourselves alone in the house, alone, so far as we
searched, on the estate ; all our attendants, with one
accord, had fled ; and as we knew them to be grate-
47
THE DYNAMITER
fully devoted, we drew the darkest intimations from
their flight. The day passed, indeed, without event; but
in the fall of the evening we were called at last into
the verandah by the approaching clink of horse's hoofs.
The doctor, mounted on an Indian pony, rode
into the garden, dismounted, and saluted us. He
seemed much more bent, and his hair more silvery
than ever ; but his demeanour was composed, serious,
and not unkind.
'Madam,' said he, 'I am come upon a weighty
errand ; and I would have you recognise it as an
effect of kindness in the President, that he should
send as his ambassador your only neighbour and
your husband's oldest friend in Utah.'
' Sir,' said my mother, ' I have but one concern,
one thought. You know well what it is. Speak :
my husband ? '
' Madam,' returned the doctor, taking a chair on
the verandah, ' if you were a silly child my position
would now be painfully embarrassing. You are, on
the other hand, a woman of great intelligence and
fortitude : you have, by my forethought, been allowed
three weeks to draw your own conclusions and to
accept the inevitable. Further words from me are,
I conceive, superfluous.'
My mother was as pale as death, and trembled
like a reed ; I gave her my hand, and she kept it in
the folds of her dress, and wrung it till I could have
cried aloud. ' Then, sir,' said she at last, ' you speak
to deaf ears. If this be indeed so, what have I to do
with errands ? what do I ask of Heaven but to die ? '
48
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
1 Come,' said the doctor, ' command yourself. I
bid you dismiss all thoughts of your late husband,
and bring a clear mind to bear upon your own future
and the fate of that young girl.'
' You bid me dismiss ' began my mother.
' Then you know ! ' she cried.
' I know,' replied the doctor.
' You know ? ' broke out the poor woman. ' Then
it was you who did the deed ! I tear off the mask,
and with dread and loathing see you as you are
— you, whom the poor fugitive beholds in night-
mares, and awakes raving — you, the Destroying
Angel ! '
1 Well, madam, and what then ? ' returned the
doctor. ' Have not my fate and yours been similar ?
Are we not both immured in this strong prison of
Utah ? Have you not tried to flee, and did not the
Open Eye confront you in the canon ? Who can
escape the watch of that unsleeping eye of Utah ?
Not I, at least. Horrible tasks have, indeed, been
laid upon me ; and the most ungrateful was the last ;
but had I refused my offices, would that have spared
your husband? You know well it would not. I,
too, had perished along with him ; nor would I have
been able to alleviate his last moments, nor could I
to-day have stood between his family and the hand
of Brigham Young.'
' Ah ! ' cried I, ' and could you purchase life by
such concessions ? '
' Young lady,' answered the doctor, ' I both could
and did ; and you will live to thank me for that
7— d 49
THE DYNAMITER
baseness. You have a spirit, Asenath, that it pleases
me to recognise. But we waste time. Mr. Fon-
blanque's estate reverts, as you doubtless imagine, to
the church ; but some part of it has been reserved
for him who is to marry the family ; and that person,
I should perhaps tell you without more delay, is no
other than myself.'
At this odious proposal my mother and I cried
out aloud and clung together like lost souls.
' It is as I supposed,' resumed the doctor, with the
same measured utterance. ' You recoil from this
arrangement. Do you expect me to convince you ?
You know very well that I have never held the
Mormon view of women. Absorbed in the most
arduous studies, I have left the slatterns whom they
call my wives to scratch and quarrel among them-
selves ; of me, they have had nothing but my purse ;
such was not the union I desired, even if I had the
leisure to pursue it. No : you need not, madam,
and my old friend' — and here the doctor rose and
bowed with something of gallantry — ' you need not
apprehend my importunities. On the contrary, I am
rejoiced to read in you a Roman spirit ; and if I am
obliged to bid you follow me at once, and that in the
name, not of my wish, but of my orders, I hope it
will be found that we are of a common mind. '
So, bidding us dress for the road, he took a lamp
(for the night had now fallen) and set off to the
stable to prepare our horses.
' What does it mean ? — what will become of us ? '
I cried.
50
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
* Not that, at least,' replied my mother, shudder-
ing. ' So far we can trust him. I seem to read
among his words a certain tragic promise. Asenath,
if I leave you, if I die, you will not forget your
miserable parents ? '
Thereupon we fell to cross-purposes : I beseeching
her to explain her words ; she putting me by, and
continuing to recommend the doctor for a friend.
* The doctor ! ' I cried at last ; ' the man who killed
my father ? '
'Nay,' said she, 'let us be just. I do believe,
before Heaven, he played the friendliest part. And
he alone, Asenath, can protect you in this land of
death. '
At this the doctor returned, leading our two
horses ; and when we were all in the saddle, he bade
me ride on before, as he had matter to discuss with
Mrs. Fonblanque. They came at a foot's-pace,
eagerly conversing in a whisper ; and presently after
the moon rose and showed them looking eagerly in
each other's faces as they went, my mother laying
her hand upon the doctor's arm, and the doctor
himself, against his usual custom, making vigorous
gestures of protest or asseveration.
At the foot of the track which ascended the talus
of the mountain to his door, the doctor overtook me
at a trot.
' Here,' he said, < we shall dismount ; and as your
mother prefers to be alone, you and I shall walk
together to my house.'
' Shall I see her again ? ' I asked.
5i
THE DYNAMITER
' I give you my word/ he said, and helped me to
alight. 'We leave the horses here,' he added.
' There are no thieves in this stone wilderness.
The track mounted gradually, keeping the house
in view. The windows were once more bright ; the
chimney once more vomited smoke ; but the most
absolute silence reigned, and, but for the figure of
my mother very slowly following in our wake, I
felt convinced there was no human soul within a
range of miles. At the thought, I looked upon the
doctor, gravely walking by my side, with his bowed
shoulders and white hair, and then once more at his
house, lit up and pouring smoke like some indus-
trious factory. And then my curiosity broke forth.
' In Heaven's name,' I cried, ' what do you make in
this inhuman desert ? '
He looked at me with a peculiar smile, and
answered with an evasion :
< This is not the first time,' said he, ' that you have
seen my furnaces alight. One morning, in the small
hours, I saw you driving past ; a delicate experiment
miscarried ; and I cannot acquit myself of having
startled either your driver or the horse that drew
you.'
• What ! ' cried I, beholding again in fancy the
antics of the figure, ' could that be you ? '
' It was I,' he replied ; ' but do not fancy that I was
mad. I was in agony. I had been scalded cruelly.'
We were now near the house, which, unlike the
ordinary houses of the country, was built of hewn
stone, and very solid. Stone, too, was its foundation,
52
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
stone its background. Not a blade of grass sprouted
among the broken mineral about the walls, not a
flower adorned the windows. Over the door, by
way of sole adornment, the Mormon Eye was rudely
sculptured; I had been brought up to view that
emblem from my childhood ; but since the night of
our escape it had acquired a new significance, and
set me shrinking. The smoke rolled voluminously
from the chimney-top, its edges ruddy with the fire ;
and from the far corner of the building, near the
ground, angry puffs of steam shone snow-white in
the moon and vanished.
The doctor opened the door and paused upon the
threshold. ' You ask me what I make here,' he
observed : * Two things : Life and Death.' And he
motioned me to enter.
' I shall await my mother,' said I.
' Child,' he replied, 'look at me : am I not old and
broken ? Of us two, which is the stronger, the
young maiden or the withered man ? '
I bowed, and, passing by him, entered a vestibule
or kitchen, lit by a good fire and a shaded reading-
lamp. It was furnished only with a dresser, a rude
table, and some wooden benches ; and on one of
these the doctor motioned me to take a seat ; and
passing by another door into the interior of the house,
he left me to myself. Presently I heard the jar of
iron from the far end of the building ; and this was
followed by the same throbbing noise that had
startled me in the valley, but now so near at hand
as to be menacing by loudness, and even to shake
53
THE DYNAMITER
the house with every recurrence of the stroke. I
had scarce time to master my alarm when the doctor
returned, and almost in the same moment my mother
appeared upon the threshold. But how am I to
describe to you the peace and ravishment of that
face ? Years seemed to have passed over her head
during that brief ride, and left her younger and
fairer ; her eyes shone, her smile went to my heart ;
she seemed no more a woman, but the angel of
ecstatic tenderness. I ran to her in a kind of terror ;
but she shrank a little back and laid her finger on
her lips, with something arch and yet unearthly.
To the doctor, on the contrary, she reached out her
hand as to a friend and helper ; and so strange was
the scene that I forgot to be offended.
' Lucy,' said the doctor, * all is prepared. Will
you go alone, or shall your daughter follow us ? '
' Let Asenath come,' she answered, ' dear Asenath !
At this hour, when I am purified of fear and sorrow,
and already survive myself and my affections, it is
for your sake, and not for mine, that I desire her
presence. Were she shut out, dear friend, it is to
be feared she might misjudge your kindness.'
' Mother,' I cried wildly, ' mother, what is this ? '
But my mother, with her radiant smile, said only
' Hush ! ' as though I were a child again, and tossing
in some fever-fit ; and the doctor bade me be silent
and trouble her no more. ' You have made a choice,'
he continued, addressing my mother, ' that has often
strangely tempted me. The two extremes : all, or
else nothing ; never, or this very hour upon the
54
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
clock — these have been my incongruous desires.
But to accept the middle term, to be content with
a half-gift, to flicker a while and to burn out — never
for an hour, never since I was born, has satisfied
the appetite of my ambition.' He looked upon my
mother fixedly, much of admiration and some touch
of envy in his eyes ; then, with a profound sigh, he
led the way into the inner room.
It was very long. From end to end it was lit up
by many lamps, which by the changeful colour of
their light, and by the incessant snapping sounds
with which they burned, I have since divined to be
electric. At the extreme end an open door gave us
a glimpse into what must have been a lean-to shed
beside the chimney ; and this, in strong contrast to
the room, was painted with a red reverberation as
from furnace-doors. The walls Avere lined with books
and glazed cases, the tables crowded with the imple-
ments of chemical research ; great glass accumulators
glittered in the light ; and through a hole in the
gable near the shed door a heavy driving-belt entered
the apartment and ran overhead upon steel pulleys,
with clumsy activity and many ghostly and flutter-
ing sounds. In one corner I perceived a chair resting
upon crystal feet, and curiously wreathed with wire.
To this my mother advanced with a decisive swift-
ness.
' Is this it ? ' she asked.
The doctor bowed in silence.
' Asenath,' said my mother, ' in this sad end of my
life I have found one helper. Look upon him : it is
55
THE DYNAMITER
Dr. Grierson. Be not, O my daughter, be not un-
grateful to that friend ! '
She sat upon the chair, and took in her hands the
globes that terminated the arms.
'Am I right?' she asked, and looked upon the
doctor with such a radiancy of face that I trembled
for her reason. Once more the doctor bowed, but
this time leaning hard against the wall. He must
have touched a spring. The least shock agitated my
mother where she sat ; the least passing jar appeared
to cross her features ; and she sank back in the chair
like one resigned to weariness. I was at her knees
that moment ; but her hands fell loosely in my grasp ;
her face, still beatified with the same touching smile,
sank forward on her bosom : her spirit had for ever
fled.
I do not know how long may have elapsed before,
raising for a moment my tearful face, I met the
doctor's eyes. They rested upon mine with such a
depth of scrutiny, pity, and interest, that even from
the freshness of my sorrow I was startled into
attention.
* Enough,' he said, ' to lamentation. Your mother
went to death as to a bridal, dying where her hus-
band died. It is time, Asenath, to think of the
survivors. Follow me to the next room.'
I followed him, like a person in a dream ; he made
me sit by the fire, he gave me wine to drink ; and
then, pacing the stone floor, he thus began to
address me :
* You are now, my child, alone in the world, and
56
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
under the immediate watch of Brigham Young. It
would be your lot, in ordinary circumstances, to
become the fiftieth bride of some ignoble elder, or by
particular fortune, as fortune is counted in this land,
to find favour in the eyes of the President himself.
Such a fate for a girl like you were worse than death ;
better to die as your mother died than to sink daily
deeper in the mire of this pit of woman's degradation.
But is escape conceivable ? Your father tried ; and
you beheld yourself with what security his jailers
acted, and how a dumb drawing on a rock was
counted a sufficient sentry over the avenues of free-
dom. Where your father failed, will you be wiser
or more fortunate ? or are you, too, helpless in the
toils ? '
I had followed his words with changing emotion,
but now I believed I understood.
'I see,' I cried; 'you judge me rightly. I must
follow where my parents led ; and oh ! I am not only
willing, I am eager ! '
' No,' replied the doctor, ' not death for you. The
flawed vessel we may break, but not the perfect.
No, your mother cherished a different hope, and so
do I. I see,' he cried, ' the girl develop to the com-
pleted woman, the plan reach fulfilment, the promise
— ay, outdone ! I could not bear to arrest so lively,
so comely a process. It was your mother's thought,'
he added, with a change of tone, 'that I should
marry you myself.' I fear I must have shown a
perfect horror of aversion from this fate, for he made
haste to quiet me. ' Re-assure yourself, Asenath,' he
57
THE DYNAMITER
resumed. ' Old as I am, I have not forgotten the
tumultuous fancies of youth. I have passed my
days, indeed, in laboratories ; but in all my vigils I
have not forgotten the tune of a young pulse. Age
asks with timidity to be spared intolerable pain ;
youth, taking fortune by the beard, demands joy like
a right. These things I have not forgotten ; none,
rather, has more keenly felt, none more jealously
considered them ; I have but postponed them to
their day. See, then : you stand without support ;
the only friend left to you, this old investigator, old
in cunning, young in sympathy. Answer me but
one question : Are you free from the entanglement
of what the world calls love ? Do you still com-
mand your heart and purposes ? or are you fallen in
some bond-slavery of the eye and ear ? '
I answered him in broken words; my heart, I
think I must have told him, lay with my dead
parents.
' It is enough,' he said. « It has been my fate to
be called on often, too often, for those services of
which we spoke to-night ; none in Utah could carry
them so well to a conclusion ; hence there has fallen
into my hands a certain share of influence which I
now lay at your service, partly for the sake of my
dead friends, your parents ; partly for the interest I
bear you in your own right. I shall send you to
England, to the great city of London, there to await
the bridegroom I have selected. He shall be a son
of mine, a young man suitable in age, and not grossly
deficient in that quality of beauty that your years
58
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
demand. Since your heart is free, you may well
pledge me the sole promise that I ask in return for
much expense and still more danger : to await the
arrival of that bridegroom with the delicacy of a
wife.'
I sat a while stunned. The doctor's marriages, I
remembered to have heard, had been unfruitful ; and
this added perplexity to my distress. But I was
alone, as he had said, alone in that dark land ; the
thought of escape, of any equal marriage, was already
enough to revive in me some dawn of hope ; and in
what words I know not, I accepted the proposal.
He seemed more moved by my consent than I
could reasonably have looked for. ' You shall see,'
he cried ; ' you shall judge for yourself.' And hurry-
ing to the next room he returned with a small por-
trait somewhat coarsely done in oils. It showed a
man in the dress of nearly forty years before, young
indeed, but still recognisable to be the doctor. ' Do
you like it ? ' he asked. ' That is myself when I was
young. My — my boy will be like that, like, but
nobler ; with such health as angels might condescend
to envy ; and a man of mind, Asenath, of command-
ing mind. That should be a man, I think; that
should be one among ten thousand. A man like
that — one to combine the passions of youth with the
restraint, the force, the dignity of age — one to fill all
the parts and faculties, one to be man's epitome —
say, will that not satisfy the needs of an ambitious
girl ? Say, is not that enough ? ' And as he held
the picture close before my eyes, his hands shook.
59
THE DYNAMITER
I told him briefly I would ask no better, for I was
transpierced with this display of fatherly emotion ;
but even as I said the words, the most insolent revolt
surged through my arteries. I held him in horror,
him, his portrait, and his son ; and had there been
any choice but death or a Mormon marriage, I de-
clare before Heaven I had embraced it.
' It is well,' he replied, ' and I had rightly counted
on your spirit. Eat, then, for you have far to go.'
So saying, he set meat before me ; and while I
was endeavouring to obey, he left the room and
returned with an armful of coarse raiment. ' There,'
said he, 'is your disguise. I leave you to your
toilet'
The clothes had probably belonged to a somewhat
lubberly boy of fifteen ; and they hung about me
like a sack, and cruelly hampered my movements.
But what filled me with uncontrollable shudderings
was the problem of their origin and the fate of the
lad to whom they had belonged. I had scarcely
effected the exchange when the doctor returned,
opened a back window, helped me out into the
narrow space between the house and the overhanging
bluffs, and showed me a ladder of iron footholds
mortised in the rock. 'Mount,' he said, 'swiftly.
When you are at the summit, walk, so far as you
are able, in the shadow of the smoke. The smoke
will bring you, sooner or later, to a canon ; follow
that down, and you will find a man with two horses.
Him you will implicitly obey. And remember,
silence ! That machinery which I now put in motion
60
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
for your service may by one word be turned against
you. Go ; Heaven prosper you ! '
The ascent was easy. Arrived at the top of the
cliff, I saw before me on the other side a vast and
gradual declivity of stone, lying bare to the moon
and the surrounding mountains. Nowhere was any
vantage or concealment; and knowing how these
deserts were beset with spies, I made haste to veil
my movements under the blowing trail of smoke.
Sometimes it swam high, rising on the night wind,
and I had no more substantial curtain than its moon-
thrown shadow; sometimes again it crawled upon
the earth, and I would walk in it, no higher than to
my shoulders, like some mountain fog. But, one
way or another, the smoke of that ill-omened furnace
protected the first steps of my escape, and led me
unobserved to the canon.
There, sure enough, I found a taciturn and sombre
man beside a pair of saddle-horses ; and thence-
forward, all night long, we wandered in silence by
the most occult and dangerous paths among the
mountains. A little before the dayspring we took
refuge in a wet and gusty cavern at the bottom of a
gorge ; lay there all day concealed ; and the next
night, before the glow had faded out of the west,
resumed our wanderings. About noon we stopped
again, in a lawn upon a little river, where was a
screen of bushes ; and here my guide, handing me a
bundle from his pack, bade me change my dress once
more. The bundle contained clothing of my own,
taken from our house, with such necessaries as a
61
THE DYNAMITER
comb and soap. I made my toilet by the mirror of
a quiet pool ; and as I was so doing and smiling with
some complacency to see myself restored to my
own image, the mountains rang with a scream of far
more than human piercingness ; and while I still
stood astonished, there sprang up and swiftly in-
creased a storm of the most awful and earth -rending
sounds. Shall I own to you that I fell upon my
face and shrieked ? And yet this was but the over-
land train winding among the near mountains : the
very means of my salvation : the strong wings that
were to carry me from Utah !
When I was dressed the guide gave me a bag,
which contained, he said, both money and papers ;
and, telling me that I was already over the borders
in the territory of Wyoming, bade me follow the
stream until I reached the railway station, half a
mile below. * Here,' he added, * is your ticket as far
as Council Bluffs. The East express will pass in a
few hours.' With that, he took both horses and,
without further words or any salutation, rode off by
the way that we had come.
Three hours afterwards, 1 was seated on the end
platform of the train as it swept eastward through
the gorges and thundered in tunnels of the moun-
tain. The change of scene, the sense of escape, the
still throbbing terror of pursuit — above all the as-
tounding magic of my new conveyance, kept me
from any logical or melancholy thought. I had gone
to the doctor's house two nights before prepared to
die, prepared for worse than death ; what had passed,
62
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
terrible although it was, looked almost bright com-
pared to my anticipations ; and it was not till I had
slept a full night in the flying palace car that I
awoke to the sense of my irreparable loss and to
some reasonable alarm about the future. In this
mood I examined the contents of the bag. It was
well supplied with gold ; it contained tickets and
complete directions for my journey as far as Liver-
pool, and a long letter from the doctor, supplying
me with a fictitious name and story, recommending
the most guarded silence, and bidding me to await
faithfully the coming of his son. All then had been
arranged beforehand : he had counted upon my con-
sent, and, what was tenfold worse, upon my mother's
voluntary death. My horror of my only friend, my
aversion for this son who was to marry me, my
revolt against the whole current and conditions of
my life, were now complete. I was sitting stupefied
by my distress and helplessness, when, to my joy, a
very pleasant lady offered me her conversation. I
clutched at the relief; and I was soon glibly telling
her the story in the doctor's letter : how I was a Miss
Gould, of Nevada City, going to England to an
uncle, what money I had, what family, my age, and
so forth, until I had exhausted my instructions, and,
as the lady still continued to ply me with questions,
began to embroider on my own account. This soon
carried one of my inexperience beyond her depth ;
and I had already remarked a shadow on the lady's
face, when a gentleman drew near and very civilly
addressed me :
^3
THE DYNAMITER
' Miss Gould, I believe ? ' said he ; and then, ex-
cusing himself to the lady by the authority of my
guardian, drew me to the fore platform of the Pull-
man car. ' Miss Gould,' he said in my ear, ' is it
possible that you suppose yourself in safety? Let
me completely undeceive you. One more such
indiscretion and you return to Utah. And, in the
meanwhile, if this woman should again address you,
you are to reply with these words : " Madam, I do
not like you, and I will be obliged if you will suffer
me to choose my own associates." '
Alas, I had to do as I was bid ; this lady, to whom
I already felt myself drawn with the strongest cords
of sympathy, I dismissed with insult ; and thence-
forward, through all that day I sat in silence, gazing
on the bare plains and swallowing my tears. Let
that suffice: it was the pattern of my journey.
Whether on the train, at the hotels, or on board the
ocean steamer, I never exchanged a friendly word
with any fellow-traveller but I was certain to be
interrupted. In every place, on every side, the most
unlikely persons, man or woman, rich or poor, be-
came protectors to forward me upon my journey or
spies to observe and regulate my conduct. Thus I
crossed the States, thus passed the ocean, the
Mormon Eye still following my movements ; and
when at length a cab had set me down before that
London lodging-house from which you saw me flee
this morning, I had already ceased to struggle and
ceased to hope.
The landlady, like every one else through all that
64
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
journey, was expecting my arrival. A fire was
lighted in my room, which looked upon the garden ;
there were books on the table, clothes in the drawers ;
and there (I had almost said with contentment, and
certainly with resignation) I saw month follow month
over my head. At times my landlady took me for
a walk or an excursion, but she would never suffer
me to leave the house alone ; and I, seeing that she
also lived under the shadow of that widespread
Mormon terror, felt too much pity to resist. To
the child born on Mormon soil, as to the man who
accepts the engagements of a secret order, no escape
is possible ; so I had clearly read, and I was thankful
even for this respite. Meanwhile, I tried honestly
to prepare my mind for my approaching nuptials.
The day drew near when my bridegroom was to visit
me, and gratitude and fear alike obliged me to con-
sent. A son of Dr. Grierson's, be he what he pleased,
must still be young, and it was even probable he
should be handsome ; on more than that I felt I
dared not reckon ; and in moulding my mind towards
consent I dwelt the more carefully on these physical
attractions which I felt I might expect, and averted
my eyes from moral or intellectual considerations.
We have a great power upon our spirits ; and as
time passed I worked myself into a frame of acquies-
cence, nay, and I began to grow impatient for the
hour. At night sleep forsook me ; I sat all day by
the fire, absorbed in dreams, conjuring up the features
of my husband, and anticipating in fancy the touch
of his hand and the sound of his voice. In the dead
' 7— e 65
THE DYNAMITER
level and solitude of my existence, this was the one
eastern window and the one door of hope. At last
I had so cultivated and prepared my will that I
began to be besieged with fears upon the other side.
How if it was I that did not please ? How if this
unseen lover should turn from me with disaffection ?
And now I spent hours before the glass, studying
and judging my attractions, and was never weary of
changing my dress or ordering my hair.
When the day came I was long about my toilet ;
but at last, with a sort of hopeful desperation, I had
to own that I could do no more, and must now stand
or fall by nature. My occupation ended, I fell a
prey to the most sickening impatience, mingled with
alarms ; giving ear to the swelling rumour of the
streets, and at each change of sound or silence start-
ing, shrinking, and colouring to the brow. Love is
not to be prepared, I know, without some knowledge
of the object ; and yet, when the cab at last rattled
to the door, and I heard my visitor mount the stairs,
such was the tumult of hopes in my poor bosom that
love itself might have been proud to own their
parentage. The door opened, and it was Dr. Grier-
son that appeared. I believe I must have screamed
aloud, and I know, at least, that I fell fainting to
the floor.
When I came to myself he was standing over me,
counting my pulse. ' I have startled you,' he said.
' A difficulty unforeseen — the impossibility of obtain-
ing a certain drug in its full purity — has forced me
to resort to London unprepared. I regret that I
66
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
should have shown myself once more without those
poor attractions which are much, perhaps, to you,
but to me are no more considerable than rain that
falls into the sea. Youth is but a state, as passing
as that syncope from which you are but just awak-
ened, and, if there be truth in science, as easy to
recall; for I find, Asenath, that I must now take
you for my confidant. Since my first years I have
devoted every hour and act of fife to one ambitious
task ; and the time of my success is at hand. In
these new countries, where I was so long content to
stay, I collected indispensable ingredients ; I have
fortified myself on every side from the possibility of
error ; what was a dream now takes the substance of
reality ; and when I offered you a son of mine I did
so in a figure. That son — that husband, Asenath, is
myself — not as you now behold me, but restored to
the first energy of youth. You think me mad ? It
is the customary attitude of ignorance. I will not
argue; I will leave facts to speak. When you
behold me purified, invigorated, renewed, re-stamped
in the original image — when you recognise in me
(what I shall be) the first perfect expression of the
powers of mankind — I shall be able to laugh with a
better grace at your passing and natural incredulity.
To what can you aspire — fame, riches, power, the
charm of youth, the dear-bought wisdom of age —
that I shall not be able to afford you in perfection ?
Do not deceive yourself. I already excel you in
every human gift but one : when that gift also has
been restored to me you will recognise your master,'
6 7
THE DYNAMITER
Hereupon, consulting his watch, he told me he
must now leave me to myself ; and bidding me con-
sult reason, and not girlish fancies, he withdrew. I
had not the courage to move ; the night fell, and
found me still where he had laid me during my faint,
my face buried in my hands, my soul drowned in
the darkest apprehensions. Late in the evening he
returned, carrying a candle, and, with a certain
irritable tremor, bade me rise and sup. ' Is it
possible,' he added, ' that I have been deceived in
your courage ? A cowardly girl is no fit mate for me.'
I flung myself before him on my knees, and with
floods of tears besought him to release me from this
engagement, assuring him that my cowardice was
abject, and that in every point of intellect and
character I was his hopeless and derisible inferior.
' Why, certainly,' he replied. ' I know you better
than yourself; and I am well enough acquainted
with human nature to understand this scene. It is
addressed to me,' he added, with a smile, 'in my
character of the still untransformed. But do not
alarm yourself about the future. Let me but attain
my end, and not you only, Asenath, but every
woman on the face of the earth becomes my willing
slave.'
Thereupon he obliged me to rise and eat ; sat down
with me to table ; helped and entertained me with
the attentions of a fashionable host ; and it was not
till a late hour that, bidding me courteously good-
night, he once more left me alone to my misery.
In all this talk of an elixir and the restoration of
68
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
his youth, I scarce knew from which hypothesis I
should the more eagerly recoil. If his hopes reposed
on any base of fact, if, indeed, by some abhorrent
miracle he should discard his age, death were my
only refuge from that most unnatural, that most
ungodly union. If, on the other hand, these dreams
were mere lunatic, the madness of a life waxed
suddenly acute, my pity would become a load
almost as heavy to bear as my revolt against the
marriage. So passed the night, in alternations of
rebellion and despair, of hate and pity ; and with
the next morning I was only to comprehend more
fully my enslaved position. For though he appeared
with a very tranquil countenance, he had no sooner
observed the marks of grief upon my brow than an
answering darkness gathered on his own. 'Asenath,'
he said, ' you owe me much already ; with one finger
I still hold you suspended over death ; my life is
full of labour and anxiety ; and I choose,' said he,
with a remarkable accent of command, ' that you
shall greet me with a pleasant face.' He never
needed to repeat the recommendation : from that
day forward I was always ready to receive him with
apparent cheerfulness ; and he rewarded me with a
good deal of his company, and almost more than I
could bear of his confidence. He had set up a
laboratory in the back part of the house, where he
toiled day and night at his elixir, and he would come
thence to visit me in my parlour : now with passing
humours of discouragement ; now, and far more
often, radiant with hope. It was impossible to see
69
THE DYNAMITER
so much of him, and not to recognise that the sands
of his life were running low ; and yet all the time
he would be laying out vast fields of future, and
planning, with all the confidence of youth, the most
unbounded schemes of pleasure and ambition. How
I replied I know not ; but I found a voice and
words to answer, even while I wept and raged to
hear him.
A week ago the doctor entered my room with the
marks of great exhilaration contending with pitiful
bodily weakness. * Asenath,' said he, ' I have now
obtained the last ingredient. In one week from
now the perilous moment of the last projection will
draw nigh. You have once before assisted, although
unconsciously, at the failure of a similar experiment.
It was the elixir which so terribly exploded one
night when you were passing my house ; and it is
idle to deny that the conduct of so delicate a pro-
cess, among the million jars and trepidations of so
great a city, presents a certain element of danger.
From this point of view, I cannot but regret the
perfect stillness of my house among the deserts ;
but, on the other, hand, I have succeeded in prov-
ing that the singularly unstable equilibrium of the
elixir, at the moment of projection, is due rather
to the impurity than to the nature of the ingredients ;
and as all are now of an equal and exquisite nicety,
I have little fear for the result. In a week then
from to-day, my dear Asenath, this period of trial
will be ended.' And he smiled upon me in a manner
unusually paternal.
70
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
I smiled back with my lips, but at my heart there
raged the blackest and most unbridled terror. What
if he failed ? And oh, tenfold worse ! what if he
succeeded ? What detested and unnatural change-
ling would appear before me to claim my hand?
And could there, I asked myself with a dreadful
sinking, be any truth in his boasts of an assured
victory over my reluctance ? I knew him, indeed,
to be masterful, to lead my life at a sign. Suppose,
then, this experiment to succeed ; suppose him to
return to me, hideously restored, like a vampire in
a legend ; and suppose that, by some devilish fascina-
tion . . . My head turned ; all former fears deserted
me ; and I felt I could embrace the worst in pre-
ference to this.
My mind was instantly made up. The doctor's
presence in London was justified by the affairs of the
Mormon polity. Often, in our conversation, he
would gloat over the details of that great organisa-
tion, which he feared even while yet he wielded it ;
and would remind me, that even in the humming
labyrinth of London, we were still visible to that
unsleeping eye in Utah. His visitors, indeed, who
were of every sort, from the missionary to the
destroying angel, and seemed to belong to every
rank of life, had, up to that moment, filled me with
unmixed repulsion and alarm. I knew that if my
secret were to reach the ear of any leader my fate
were sealed beyond redemption ; and yet in my
present pass of horror and despair, it was to these
very men that I turned for help. I waylaid upon
7i
THE DYNAMITER
the stair one of the Mormon missionaries, a man of
a low class, but not inaccessible to pity ; told him
I scarce remember what elaborate fable to explain
my application ; and by his intermediacy entered
into correspondence with my father's family. They
recognised my claim for help, and on this very day
I was to begin my escape.
Last night I sat up fully dressed, awaiting the
result of the doctor's labours, and prepared against
the worst. The nights at this season and in this
northern latitude are short ; and I had soon the
company of the returning daylight. The silence in
and around the house was only broken by the move-
ments of the doctor in the laboratory ; to these I
listened, watch in hand, awaiting the hour of my
escape, and yet consumed by anxiety about the
strange experiment that was going forward overhead.
Indeed, now that I was conscious of some protection
for myself, my sympathies had turned more directly
to the doctor's side ; I caught myself even praying
for his success ; and when some hours ago a low,
peculiar cry reached my ears from the laboratory, I
could no longer control my impatience, but mounted
the stairs and opened the door.
The doctor was standing in the middle of the
room ; in his hand a large, round-bellied, crystal
flask, some three parts full of a bright amber-coloured
liquid ; on his face a rapture of gratitude and joy
unspeakable. 'As he saw me he raised the flask
at arm's-length. * Victory ! ' he cried. ' Victory,
Asenath ! ' And then — whether the flask escaped
72
THE DESTROYING ANGEL
his trembling fingers, or whether the explosion were
spontaneous, I cannot tell — enough that we were
thrown, I against the door-post, the doctor into the
corner of the room ; enough that we were shaken
to the soul by the same explosion that must have
startled you upon the street ; and that, in the brief
space of an indistinguishable instant, there remained
nothing of the labours of the doctor's lifetime but
a few shards of broken crystal and those voluminous
and ill-smelling vapours that pursued me in my
flight.
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES {concluded)
What with the lady's animated manner and dramatic
conduct of her voice, Challoner had thrilled to
every incident with genuine emotion. His fancy,
which was not perhaps of a very lively character,
applauded both the matter and the style ; but the
more judicial functions of his mind refused assent.
It was an excellent story ; and it might be true, but
he believed it was not. Miss Fonblanque was a
lady, and it was doubtless possible for a lady to
wander from the truth ; but how was a gentleman
to tell her so ? His spirits for some time had been
sinking, but they now fell to zero ; and long after
her voice had died away he still sat with a troubled
and averted countenance, and could find no form of
words to thank her for her narrative. His mind,
73
THE DYNAMITER
indeed, was empty of everything beyond a dull
longing for escape. From this pause, which grew
the more embarrassing with every second, he was
roused by the sudden laughter of the lady. His
vanity was alarmed ; he turned and faced her ; their
eyes met ; and he caught from hers a spark of such
frank merriment as put him instantly at ease.
' You certainly,' he said, ' appear to bear your
calamities with excellent spirit.'
* Do I not ? ' she cried, and fell once more into
delicious laughter. But from this access she more
speedily recovered. ' This is all very well,' said she,
nodding at him gravely, 'but I am still in a most
distressing situation, from which, if you deny me
your help, I shall find it difficult indeed to free
myself.'
At this mention of help Challoner fell back to his
original gloom.
' My sympathies are much engaged with you,' he
said, ' and I should be delighted, I am sure. But our
position is most unusual; and circumstances over
which I have, I can assure you, no control, deprive
me of the power — the pleasure Unless, indeed,'
he added, somewhat brightening at the thought, ' I
were to recommend you to the care of the police ? '
She laid her hand upon his arm and looked hard
into his eyes ; and he saw with wonder that, for the
first time since the moment of their meeting, every
trace of colour had faded from her cheek.
'Do so,' she said, 'and — weigh my words well —
you kill me as certainly as with a knife.'
74
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
' God bless me ! ' exclaimed Challoner.
* Oh,' she cried, ' I can see you disbelieve my story,
and make light of the perils that surround me ; but
who are you to judge ? My family share my appre-
hensions ; they help me in secret ; and you saw
yourself by what an emissary, and in what a place,
they have chosen to supply me with the funds for
my escape. I admit that you are brave and clever,
and have impressed me most favourably ; but how
are you to prefer your opinion before that of my
uncle, an ex-minister of State, a man with the ear of
the Queen, and of a long political experience ? If
I am mad, is he ? And you must allow me, besides,
a special claim upon your help. Strange as you may
think my story, you know that much of it is true ;
and if you who heard the explosion, and saw the
Mormon at Victoria, refuse to credit and assist me,
to whom am I to turn ? '
' He gave you money then ? ' asked Challoner, who
had been dwelling singly on that fact.
' I begin to interest you,' she cried. ' But, frankly,
you are condemned to help me. If the service I
had to ask of you were serious, were suspicious,
were even unusual, I should say no more. But what
is it ? To take a pleasure trip (for which, if you will
suffer me, I propose to pay) and to carry from one
lady to another a sum of money ! What can be
more simple ? '
' Is the sum,' asked Challoner, ' considerable ? '
She produced a packet from her bosom ; and
observing that she had not yet found time to make
75
THE DYNAMIfER
the count, tore open the cover and spread upon her
knees a considerable number of Bank of England
notes. It took some time to make the reckoning,
for the notes were of every degree of value ; but at
last, and counting a few loose sovereigns, she made
out the sum to be a little under £710 sterling.
The sight of so much money worked an immediate
revolution in the mind of Challoner.
'And you propose, madam,' he cried, 'to intrust
that money to a perfect stranger ? '
' Ah ! ' said she, with a charming smile, ' but I no
longer regard you as a stranger.'
' Madam,' said Challoner, ' I perceive I must make
you a confession. Although of a very good family
— through my mother, indeed, a lineal descendant
of the patriot Bruce — I dare not conceal from you
that my affairs are deeply, very deeply, involved. I
am in debt ; my pockets are practically empty ; and,
in short, I am fallen to that state when a consider-
able sum of money would prove to many men an
irresistible temptation.'
' Do you not see,' returned the young lady, ' that
by these words you have removed my last hesitation?
Take them.' And she thrust the notes into the
young man's hand.
He sat so long, holding them, like a baby at the
font, that Miss Fonblanque once more bubbled into
laughter.
*Pray,' she said, 'hesitate no further; put them
in your pocket ; and to relieve our position of any
shadow of embarrassment, tell me by what name I
76
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
am to address my knight-errant, for I find myself
reduced to the awkwardness of the pronoun.'
Had borrowing been in question, the wisdom of
our ancestors had come lightly to the young man's
aid ; but upon what pretext could he refuse so
generous a trust ? Upon none, he saw, that was not
unpardonably wounding ; and the bright eyes and
the high spirits of his companion had already made
a breach in the rampart of Challoner's caution. The
whole thing, he reasoned, might be a mere mystifi-
cation, which it were the height of solemn folly to
resent. On the other hand, the explosion, the inter-
view at the public-house, and the very money in his
hands, seemed to prove beyond denial the existence
of some serious danger ; and if that were so, could
he desert her ? There was a choice of risks : the
risk of behaving with extraordinary incivility and
unhandsomeness to a lady, and the risk of going on
a fool's errand. The story seemed false ; but then
the money was undeniable. The whole circum-
stances were questionable and obscure ; but the lady
was charming, and had the speech and manners of
society. While he still hung in the wind, a recol-
lection returned upon his mind with some of the
dignity of prophecy. Had he not promised Somerset
to break with the traditions of the commonplace,
and to accept the first adventure offered? Well,
here was the adventure.
He thrust the money into his pocket.
' My name is Challoner,' said he.
'Mr. Challoner,' she replied, 'you have come very
77
THE DYNAMITER
generously to my aid when all was against me.
Though I am myself a very humble person, my
family commands great interest ; and I do not think
you will repent this handsome action.'
Challoner flushed with pleasure.
* I imagine that, perhaps, a consulship,' she added,
her eyes dwelling on him with a judicial admiration,
' a consulship in some great town or capital — or
else But we waste time ; let us set about the
work of my delivery.'
She took his arm with a frank confidence that
went to his heart ; and once more laying by all serious
thoughts, she entertained him, as they crossed the
park, with her agreeable gaiety of mind. Near the
Marble Arch they found a hansom, which rapidly
conveyed them to the terminus at Euston Square ;
and here, in the hotel, they sat down to an excellent
breakfast. The young lady's first step was to call
for writing materials, and write, upon one corner of
the table, a hasty note ; still, as she did so, glancing
with smiles at her companion. ' Here,' said she,
* here is the letter which will introduce you to my
cousin.' She began to fold the paper. ' My cousin,
although I have never seen her, has the character of
a very charming woman and a recognised beauty ; of
that I know nothing, but at least she has been very
kind to me ; so has my lord her father ; so have you
— kinder than all — kinder than I can bear to think
of.' She said this with unusual emotion ; and, at the
same time, sealed the envelope. ' Ah ! ' she cried, ' I
have shut my letter ! It is not quite courteous ; and
78
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
yet, as between friends, it is perhaps better so. I
introduce you, after all, into a family secret; and
though you and I are already old comrades, you are
still unknown to my uncle. You go, then, to this
address, Richard Street, Glasgow ; go, please, as soon
as you arrive ; and give this letter with your own
hands into those of Miss Fonblanque, for that is the
name by which she is to pass. When we next meet,
you will tell me what you think of her/ she added,
with a touch of the provocative.
* Ah,' said Challoner, almost tenderly, ' she can be
nothing to me.'
' You do not know,' replied the young lady, with
a sigh. 'By the by, I had forgotten — it is very
childish, and I am almost ashamed to mention it —
but when you see Miss Fonblanque, you will have to
make yourself a little ridiculous ; and I am sure the
part in no way suits you. We had agreed upon a
watchword. You will have to address an earl's
daughter in these words : "Nigger, nigger, never
die " ; but re-assure yourself,' she added, laughing,
' for the fair patrician will at once finish the quota-
tion. Come now, say your lesson.'
« " Nigger, nigger, never die," ' repeated Challoner,
with undisguised reluctance.
Miss Fonblanque went into fits of laughter. ' Ex-
cellent,' said she, 'it will be the most humorous
scene ! ' And she laughed again.
'And what will be the counterword ? ' asked
Challoner stiffly.
' I will not tell you till the last moment,'
79
THE DYNAMITER
said she; 'for I perceive you are growing too
imperious.'
Breakfast over, she accompanied the young man
to the platform, bought him the Graphic, the
Athenceum, and a paper-cutter, and stood on the
step conversing till the whistle sounded. Then she
put her head into the carriage. * Black face and
shining eye!' she whispered, and instantly leaped
down upon the platform, with a trill of gay and
musical laughter. As the train steamed out of the
great arch of glass, the sound of that laughter still
rang in the young man's ears.
Challoner's position was too unusual to be long
welcome to his mind. He found himself projected
the whole length of England, on a mission beset
with obscure and ridiculous circumstances, and yet,
by the trust he had accepted, irrevocably bound to
persevere. How easy it appeared, in the retrospect,
to have refused the whole proposal, returned the
money, and gone forth again upon his own affairs,
a free and happy man ! And it was now impossible :
the enchantress who had held him with her eye had
now disappeared, taking his honour in pledge; and
as she had failed to leave him an address, he was
denied even the inglorious safety of retreat. To use
the paper-knife, or even to read the periodicals with
which she had presented him, was to renew the
bitterness of his remorse ; and as he was alone in
the compartment, he passed the day staring at the
landscape in impotent repentance, and long before
he was landed on the platform of St. Enoch's, had
80
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
fallen to the lowest and coldest zones of self-
contempt.
As he was hungry, and elegant in his habits, he
would have preferred to dine and to remove the
stains of travel ; but the words of the young lady,
and his own impatient eagerness, would suffer no
delay. In the late, luminous, and lamp-starred dusk
of the summer evening he accordingly set forward
with brisk steps.
The street to which he was directed had first seen
the day in the character of a row of small suburban
villas on a hillside; but the extension of the city
had, long since and on every hand, surrounded it
with miles of streets. From the top of the hill a
range of very tall buildings, densely inhabited by the
poorest classes of the population and variegated by
drying-poles from every second window, overplumbed
the villas and their little gardens like a sea-board
cliff. But still, under the grime of years of city
smoke, these antiquated cottages, with their Venetian
blinds and rural porticoes, retained a somewhat
melancholy savour of the past.
The street, when Challoner entered it, was per-
fectly deserted. From hard by, indeed, the sound of
a thousand footfalls filled the ear; but in Richard
Street itself there was neither light nor sound of
human habitation. The appearance of the neigh-
bourhood weighed heavily on the mind of the young
man ; once more, as in the streets of London, he was
impressed with the sense of city deserts ; and as he
approached the number indicated, and somewhat
7— f 8 1
THE DYNAMITER
falteringly rang the bell, his heart sank within
him.
The bell was ancient, like the house ; it had a thin
and garrulous note ; and it was some time before
it ceased to sound from the rear quarters of the
building. Following upon this an inner door was
stealthily opened, and careful and catlike steps drew
near along the hall. Challoner, supposing he was to
be instantly admitted, produced his letter and, as
well as he was able, prepared a smiling face. To his
indescribable surprise, however, the footsteps ceased,
and then, after a pause and with the like stealthiness,
withdrew once more, and died away in the interior
of the house. A second time the young man rang
violently at the bell ; a second time, to his keen
hearkening, a certain bustle of discreet footing moved
upon the hollow boards of the old villa ; and again
the faint-hearted garrison only drew near to retreat.
The cup of the visitor's endurance was now full to
overflowing; and, committing the whole family of
Fonblanque to every mood and shade of condem-
nation, he turned upon his heel and re-descended the
steps. Perhaps the mover in the house was watch-
ing from a window, and plucked up courage at the
sight of this desistance ; or perhaps, where he lurked
trembling in the back parts of the villa, reason in
its own right had conquered his alarms. Challoner,
at least, had scarce set foot upon the pavement when
he was arrested by the sound of the withdrawal of
an inner bolt; one followed another, rattling in
their sockets ; the key turned harshly in the lock ;
82
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
the door opened ; and there appeared upon the
threshold a man of a very stalwart figure in his shirt
sleeves. He was a person neither of great manly-
beauty nor of a refined exterior; he was not the
man, in ordinary moods, to attract the eyes of the
observer; but as he now stood in the doorway he
was marked so legibly with the extreme passion of
terror that Challoner stood wonder-struck. For a
fraction of a minute they gazed upon each other in
silence ; and then the man of the house, with ashen
lips and gasping voice, inquired the business of his
visitor. Challoner replied, in tones from which he
strove to banish his surprise, that he was the bearer
of a letter to a certain Miss Fonblanque. At this
name, as at a talisman, the man fell back and im-
patiently invited him to enter ; and no sooner had
the adventurer crossed the threshold than the door
was closed behind him and his retreat cut off.
It was already long past eight at night ; and
though the late twilight of the north still lingered in
the streets, in the passage it was already groping
dark. The man led Challoner directly to a parlour
looking on the garden to the back. Here he had
apparently been supping ; for by the light of a tallow
dip, the table was seen to be covered with a napkin,
and set out with a quart of bottled ale and the heel
of a Gouda cheese. The room, on the other hand,
was furnished with faded solidity, and the walls were
fined with scholarly and costly volumes in glazed
cases. The house must have been taken furnished ;
for it had no congruity with this man of the shirt
83
THE DYNAMITER
sleeves and the mean supper. As for the earl's
daughter, the earl and the visionary consulships in
foreign cities, they had long ago begun to fade in
ChaDoner's imagination. Like Dr. Grierson and the
Mormon angels, they were plainly woven of the
stuff of dreams. Not an illusion remained to the
knight-errant ; not a hope was left him but to be
speedily relieved from this disreputable business.
The man had continued to regard his visitor with
undisguised anxiety, and began once more to press
him for his errand.
' I am here,' said Challoner, ' simply to do a service
between two ladies ; and I must ask you, without
further delay, to summon Miss Fonblanque, into
whose hands alone I am authorised to deliver the
letter that I bear.'
A growing wonder began to mingle on the man's
face with the lines of solicitude. ' I am Miss Fon-
blanque,' he said ; and then, perceiving the effect of
this communication, ' Good God ! ' he cried, ' what
are you staring at ? I tell you I am Miss Fon-
blanque.'
Seeing the speaker wore a chin-beard of consider-
able length, and the remainder of his face was blue
with shaving, Challoner could only suppose himself
the subject of a jest. He was no longer under the
spell of the young lady's presence ; and with men,
and above all with his inferiors, he was capable of
some display of spirit.
' Sir,' said he, pretty roundly, ' I have put myself
to great inconvenience for persons of whom I know
84
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
too little, and I begin to be weary of the business.
Either you shall immediately summon Miss Fon-
blanque, or I leave this house and put myself under
the direction of the police.'
' This is horrible ! ' exclaimed the man. ' I declare
before Heaven I am the person meant, but how shall
I convince you ? It must have been Clara, I per-
ceive, that sent you on this errand — a madwoman,
who jests with the most deadly interests ; and here
we are, incapable, perhaps, of an agreement, and
Heaven knows what may depend on our delay ! '
He spoke with a really startling earnestness ; and
at the same time there flashed upon the mind of
Challoner the ridiculous jingle which was to serve as
password. ' This may, perhaps, assist you,' he said ;
and then, with some embarrassment : ' " Nigger,
nigger, never die.
A light of relief broke upon the troubled coun-
tenance of the man with the chin-beard. ' " Black
face and shining eye " — give me the letter,' he panted,
in one gasp.
'Well,' said Challoner, though still with some
reluctance, 'I suppose I must regard you as the
proper recipient ; and though I may justly complain
of the spirit in which I have been treated, I am only
too glad to be done with all responsibility. Here it
is,' and he produced the envelope.
The man leaped upon it like a beast, and with
hands that trembled in a manner painful to behold,
tore it open and unfolded the letter. As he read,
terror seemed to mount upon him to the pitch of
85
THE DYNAMITER
nightmare. He struck one hand upon his brow,
while with the other, as if unconsciously, he crumpled
the paper to a ball. ' My gracious powers ! ' he cried ;
and then, dashing to the window, which stood open
on the garden, he clapped forth his head and
shoulders and whistled long and shrill. Challoner
fell back into a corner, and resolutely grasping his
staff, prepared for the most desperate events ; but
the thoughts of the man with the chin-beard were
far removed from violence. Turning again into the
room, and once more beholding his visitor, whom he
appeared to have forgotten, he fairly danced with
trepidation. ' Impossible ! ' he cried. ' Oh, quite im-
possible ! O Lord, I have lost my head.' And then,
once more striking his hand upon his brow, 'The
money ! ' he exclaimed. ' Give me the money.'
* My good friend,' replied Challoner, ' this is a very
painful exhibition ; and until I see you reasonably
master of yourself, I decline to proceed with any
business.'
' You are quite right,' said the man. ' I am of a
very nervous habit ; a long course of the dumb ague
has undermined my constitution. But I know you
have money ; it may be still the saving of me ; and
oh, dear young gentleman, in pity's name be ex-
peditious ! '
Challoner, sincerely uneasy as he was, could scarce
refrain from laughter ; but he was himself in a hurry
to be gone, and without more delay produced the
money. 'You will find the sum, I trust, correct,' he
observed ; ' and let me ask you to give me a receipt.'
86
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
But the man heeded him not. He seized the
money, and disregarding the sovereigns that rolled
loose upon the floor, thrust the bundle of notes into
his pocket.
* A receipt,' repeated Challoner, with some asperity.
* I insist on a receipt.'
< Receipt ? ' repeated the man, a little wildly. ' A
receipt ? Immediately ! Await me here.'
Challoner, in reply, begged the gentleman to lose
no unnecessary time, as he was himself desirous of
catching a particular train.
'Ah, by God, and so am I ! ' exclaimed the man
with the chin-beard ; and with that he was gone out
of the room, and had rattled upstairs, four at a
time, to the upper story of the villa.
' This is certainly a most amazing business,' thought
Challoner ; ' certainly a most disquieting affair ; and
I cannot conceal from myself that I have become
mixed up with either lunatics or malefactors. I may
truly thank my stars that I am so nearly and so
creditably done with it' Thus thinking, and per-
haps remembering the episode of the whistle, he
turned to the open window. The garden was still
faintly clear; he could distinguish the stairs and
terraces with which the small domain had been
adorned by former owners, and the blackened bushes
and dead trees that had once afforded shelter to the
country birds ; beyond these he saw the strong retain-
ing wall, some thirty feet in height, which enclosed
the garden to the back ; and again above that, the
pile of dingy buildings rearing its frontage high into
%7
THE DYNAMITER
the night. A peculiar object lying stretched upon
the lawn for some time baffled his eyesight ; but at
length he had made it out to be a long ladder, or
series of ladders bound into one ; and he was still won-
dering of what service so great an instrument could
be in such a scant enclosure, when he was recalled
to himself by the noise of some one running violently
down the stairs. This was followed by the sudden,
clamorous banging of the house door ; and that again,
by rapid and retreating footsteps in the street.
Challoner sprang into the passage. He ran from
room to room, upstairs and downstairs ; and in that
old dingy and worm-eaten house, he found himself
alone. Only in one apartment looking to the front
were there any traces of the late inhabitant : a bed
that had been recently slept in and not made, a
chest of drawers disordered by a hasty search, and
on the floor a roll of crumpled paper. This he picked
up. The light in this upper story looking to the
front was considerably brighter than in the parlour ;
and he was able to make out that the paper bore the
mark of the hotel at Euston, and even, by peering
closely, to decipher the following lines in a very
elegant and careful female hand :
i Dear M'Guire, — It is certain your retreat is known. We
have just had another failure, clockwork thirty hours too soon,
with the usual humiliating result. Zero is quite disheartened.
We are all scattered, and I could find no one but the solemn
ass who brings you this and the money. I would love to see
your meeting. — : Ever yours, Shining Eye.'
Challoner was stricken to the" heart. He perceived
88
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
by what facility, by what unmanly fear of ridicule,
he had been brought down to be the gull of this
intriguer ; and his wrath flowed forth in almost equal
measure against himself, against the woman, and
against Somerset, whose idle counsels had impelled
him to embark on that adventure. At the same
time a great and troubled curiosity, and a certain
chill of fear, possessed his spirit. The conduct of the
man with the chin-beard, the terms of the letter, and
the explosion of the early morning, fitted together
like parts in some obscure and mischievous imbroglio.
Evil was certainly afoot ; evil, secrecy, terror, and
falsehood were the conditions and the passions of
the people among whom he had begun to move, like
a blind puppet ; and he who began as a puppet, his
experience told him, was often doomed to perish as
a victim.
From the stupor of deep thought into which he
had glided with the letter in his hand, he was
awakened by the clatter of the bell. He glanced
from the window ; and, conceive his horror and
surprise when he beheld, clustered on the steps, in
the front garden and on the pavement of the street,
a formidable posse of police ! He started to the full
possession of his powers and courage. Escape, and
escape at any cost, was the one idea that possessed
him. Swiftly and silently he re-descended the creak-
ing stairs ; he was already in the passage when a
second and more imperious summons from the door
awoke the echoes of the empty house ; nor had the
bell ceased to jangle before he had bestridden the
89
THE DYNAMITER
window-sill of the parlour and was lowering himself
into the garden. His coat was hooked upon the
iron flower-basket ; for a moment he hung dependent
heels and head below ; and then, with the noise
of rending cloth and followed by several pots, he
dropped upon the sod. Once more the bell was
rung, and now with furious and repeated peals. The
desperate Challoner turned his eyes on every side.
They fell upon the ladder, and he ran to it, and with
strenuous but unavailing effort sought to raise it
from the ground. Suddenly the weight, which was
thus resisting his whole strength, began to lighten in
his hands ; the ladder, like a thing of life, reared its
bulk from off the sod ; and Challoner, leaping back
with a cry of almost superstitious terror, beheld the
whole structure mount, foot by foot, against the face
of the retaining- wall. At the same time, two heads
were dimly visible above the parapet, and he was
hailed by a guarded whistle. Something in its
modulation recalled, like an echo, the whistle of the
man with the chin -beard.
Had he chanced upon a means of escape pre-
pared beforehand by those very miscreants, whose
messenger and gull he had become ? Was this,
indeed, a means of safety, or but the starting-point
of further complication and disaster ? He paused
not to reflect. Scarce was the ladder reared to its
full length than he had sprung already on the
rounds ; hand over hand, swift as an ape, he scaled
the tottering stairway. Strong arms received, em-
braced, and helped him ; he was lifted and set once
90
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
more upon the earth; and with the spasm of his
alarm yet unsubsided, found himself, in the company
of two rough-looking men, in the paved back-yard of
one of the tall houses that crowned the summit of
the hill. Meanwhile, from below, the note of the
bell had been succeeded by the sound of vigorous
and redoubling blows.
* Are you all out ? ' asked one of his companions ;
and as soon as he had babbled an answer in the
affirmative, the rope was cut from the top round,
and the ladder thrust roughly back into the garden,
where it fell and broke with clattering reverberations.
Its fall was hailed with many broken cries ; for the
whole of Richard Street was now in high emotion,
the people crowding to the windows or clambering
on the garden walls. The same man who had
already addressed Challoner seized him by the arm ;
whisked him through the basement of the house and
across the street upon the other side; and before
the unfortunate adventurer had time to realise his
situation, a door was opened and he was thrust into
a low and dark compartment.
' Bedad,' observed his guide, « there was no time to
lose. Is M'Guire gone, or was it you that whistled V
' M'Guire is gone,' said Challoner.
The guide now struck a light. ' Ah,' said he,
'this will never do. You dare not go upon the
streets in such a figure. Wait quietly here and I
will bring you something decent.'
With that the man was gone, and Challoner, his
attention thus rudely awakened, began ruefully to
9i
THE DYNAMITER
consider the havoc that had been worked in his
attire. His hat was gone ; his trousers were cruelly
ripped; and the best part of one tail of his very-
elegant frock-coat had been left hanging from the
iron crockets of the window. He had scarce had
time to measure these disasters when his host re-
entered the apartment and proceeded, without a
word, to envelop the refined and urbane Challoner
in a long ulster of the cheapest material and of a
pattern so gross and vulgar that his spirit sickened
at the sight. This calumnious disguise was crowned
and completed by a soft felt hat of the Tyrolese
design and several sizes too small. At another
moment Challoner would simply have refused to
issue forth upon the world thus travestied ; but the
desire to escape from Glasgow was now too strongly
and too exclusively impressed upon his mind. With
one haggard glance at the spotted tails of his new
coat, he inquired what was to pay for this accoutre-
ment. The man assured him that the whole expense
was easily met from funds in his possession, and
begged him, instead of wasting time, to make his
best speed out of the neighbourhood.
The young man was not loath to take the hint.
True to his usual courtesy, he thanked the speaker
and complimented him upon his taste in greatcoats ;
and leaving the man somewhat abashed by these
remarks and the manner of their delivery, he hurried
forth into the lamp-lit city. The last train was
gone ere, after many deviations, he had reached the
terminus. Attired as he was he dared not present
92
THE SQUIRE OF DAMES
himself at any reputable inn ; and he felt keenly
that the unassuming dignity of his demeanour would
serve to attract attention, perhaps mirth, and possibly
suspicion, in any humbler hostelry. He was thus
condemned to pass the solemn and uneventful hours
of a whole night in pacing the streets of Glasgow ;
supperless ; a figure of fun for all beholders ; waiting
the dawn, with hope indeed, but with unconquerable
shrinkings ; and above all things, filled with a pro-
found sense of the folly and weakness of his conduct.
It may be conceived with what curses he assailed
the memory of the fair narrator of Hyde Park ; her
parting laughter rang in his ears all night with
damning mockery and iteration ; and when he could
spare a thought from this chief artificer of his con-
fusion, it was to expend his wrath on Somerset
and the career of the amateur detective. With the
coming of day, he found in a shy milk-shop the
means to appease his hunger. There were still many
hours to wait before the departure of the south
express ; these he passed wandering with indescrib-
able fatigue in the obscurer by-streets of the city ;
and at length slipped quietly into the station and
took his place in the darkest corner of a third-class
carriage. Here, all day long, he jolted on the bare
boards, distressed by heat and continually re-awakened
from uneasy slumbers. By the half return ticket in
his purse, he was entitled to make the journey on
the easy cushions and with the ample space of the
first-class ; but alas ! in his absurd attire, he durst
not, for decency, commingle with his equals ; and
93
THE DYNAMITER
this small annoyance, coming last in such a series of
disasters, cut him to the heart.
That night, when, in his Putney lodging, he
reviewed the expense, anxiety, and weariness of his
adventure ; when he beheld the ruins of his last
good trousers and his last presentable coat; and
above all, when his eye by any chance alighted on
the Tyrolese hat or the degrading ulster, his heart
would overflow with bitterness, and it was only by
a serious call on his philosophy that he maintained
the dignity of his demeanour.
94
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
SOMERSET'S ADVENTURE: THE SUPER-
FLUOUS MANSION
Mr. Paul Somerset was a young gentleman of a
lively and fiery imagination, with very small capacity
for action. He was one who lived exclusively in
dreams and in the future : the creature of his own
theories, and an actor in his own romances. From
the cigar divan he proceeded to parade the streets,
still heated with the fire of his eloquence, and scout-
ing upon every side for the offer of some fortunate
adventure. In the continual stream of passers-by,
on the sealed fronts of houses, on the posters that
covered the hoardings, and in every lineament and
throb of the great city, he saw a mysterious and
hopeful hieroglyph. But although the elements of
adventure were streaming by him as thick as drops
of water in the Thames, it was in vain that, now
with a beseeching, now with something of a bragga-
docio air, he courted and provoked the notice of
the passengers ; in vain that, putting fortune to the
touch, he even thrust himself into the way and came
into direct collision with those of the more promis-
95
THE DYNAMITER
ing demeanour. Persons brimful of secrets, persons
pining for affection, persons perishing for lack of
help or counsel, he was sure he could perceive on
every side ; but by some contrariety of fortune, each
passed upon his way without remarking the young
gentleman, and went farther (surely to fare worse !)
in quest of the confidant, the friend, or the adviser.
To thousands he must have turned an appealing
countenance, and yet not one regarded him.
A light dinner, eaten to the accompaniment of
his impetuous aspirations, broke in upon the series
of his attempts on fortune ; and when he returned
to the task, the lamps were already lighted, and
the nocturnal crowd was dense upon the pavement.
Before a certain restaurant, whose name will readily
occur to any student of our Babylon, people were
already packed so closely that passage had grown diffi-
cult ; and Somerset, standing in the kennel, watched,
with a hope that was beginning to grow somewhat
weary, the faces and the manners of the crowd.
Suddenly he was startled by a gentle touch upon
the shoulder, and facing about, he was aware of a
very plain and elegant brougham, drawn by a pair
of powerful horses, and driven by a man in sober
livery. There were no arms upon the panel ; the
window was open, but the interior was obscure ;
the driver yawned behind his palm ; and the young
man was already beginning to suppose himself the
dupe of his own fancy, when a hand, no larger than
a child's and smoothly gloVed in white, appeared in
a corner of the window and privily beckoned him to
96
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
approach. He did so, and looked in. The carriage
was occupied by a single small and very dainty
figure, swathed head and shoulders in impenetrable
folds of white lace ; and a voice, speaking low and
silvery, addressed him in these words :
' Open the door and get in.'
' It must be,' thought the young man, with an
almost unbearable thrill, ' it must be that duchess at
last ! ' Yet, although the moment was one to which
he had long looked forward, it was with a certain
share of alarm that he opened the door, and, mount-
ing into the brougham, took his seat beside the lady
of the lace. Whether or no she had touched a
spring, or given some other signal, the young man
had hardly closed the door before the carriage, with
considerable swiftness, and with a very luxurious
and easy movement on its springs, turned and began
to drive towards the west.
Somerset, as I have written, was not unprepared ;
it had long been his particular pleasure to rehearse
his conduct in the most unlikely situations ; and
this, among others, of the patrician ravisher, was
one he had familiarly studied. Strange as it may
seem, however, he could find no apposite remark ;
and as the lady, on her side, vouchsafed no further
sign, they continued to drive in silence through the
streets. Except for alternate flashes from the pass-
ing lamps, the carriage was plunged in obscurity ;
and beyond the fact that the fittings were luxurious,
and that the lady was singularly small and slender in
person and, all but one gloved hand, still swathed
7— g 97
THE DYNAMITER
in her costly veil, the young man could decipher no
detail of an inspiring nature. The suspense began
to grow unbearable. Twice he cleared his throat,
and twice the whole resources of the language failed
him. In similar scenes, when he had forecast them
on the theatre of fancy, his presence of mind had
always been complete, his eloquence remarkable;
and at this disparity between the rehearsal and the
performance, he began to be seized with a panic of
apprehension. Here, on the very threshold of adven-
ture, suppose him ignominiously to fail ; suppose that
after ten, twenty, or sixty seconds of still uninter-
rupted silence, the lady should touch the check-string
and re-deposit him, weighed and found wanting, on
the common street! Thousands of persons of no
mind at all, he reasoned, would be found more equal
to the part ; could, that very instant, by some decisive
step, prove the lady's choice to have been well
inspired, and put a stop to this intolerable silence.
His eye, at this point, lighted on the hand. It
was better to fall by desperate councils than to
continue as he was ; and with one tremulous swoop he
pounced on the gloved fingers and drew them to him-
self. One overt step, it had appeared to him, would
dissolve the spell of his embarrassment; in act, he
found it otherwise : he found himself no less incap-
able of speech or further progress ; and, with the
lady's hand in his, sat helpless. But worse was in
store. A peculiar quivering began to agitate the
form of his companion ; the hand that lay un-
resistingly in Somerset's trembled as with ague ; and
98
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
presently there broke forth, in the shadow of the
carriage, the bubbling and musical sound of laughter,
resisted but triumphant. The young man dropped
his prize ; had it been possible, he would have
bounded from the carriage. The lady, meanwhile,
lying back upon the cushions, passed on from trill
to trill of the most heartfelt, high-pitched, clear, and
fairy-sounding merriment.
* You must not be offended,' she said at last,
catching an opportunity between two paroxysms.
* If you have been mistaken in the warmth of your
attentions, the fault is solely mine ; it does not flow
from your presumption, but from my eccentric
manner of recruiting friends ; and, believe me, I
am the last person in the world to think the worse
of a young man for showing spirit. As for to-night,
it is my intention to entertain you to a little supper ;
and if I shall continue to be as much pleased with
your manners as I was taken with your face, I may
perhaps end by making you an advantageous offer.'
Somerset sought in vain to find some form of
answer, but his discomfiture had been too recent
and complete.
* Come,' returned the lady, * we must have no
display of temper ; that is for me the one disqualify-
ing fault ; and as I perceive we are drawing near
our destination, I shall ask you to descend and offer
me your arm.'
Indeed, at that very moment, the carriage drew
up before a stately and severe mansion in a spacious
square; and Somerset, who was possessed of an
99
THE DYNAMITER
excellent temper, with the best grace in the world
assisted the lady to alight. The door was opened
by an old woman of a grim appearance, who ushered
the pair into a dining-room somewhat dimly lighted,
but already laid for supper, and occupied by a pro-
digious company of large and valuable cats. Here,
as soon as they were alone, the lady divested herself
of the lace in which she was enfolded ; and Somerset
was relieved to find, that although still bearing the
traces of great beauty, and still distinguished by the
fire and colour of her eye, her hair was of a silvery
whiteness and her face lined with years.
' And now, mon preuoc,' said the old lady, nodding
at him with a quaint gaiety, ' you perceive that I am
no longer in my first youth. You will soon find
that I am all the better company for that.'
As she spoke, the maid re-entered the apartment
with a light but tasteful supper. They sat down,
accordingly, to table, the cats with savage panto-
mime surrounding the old lady's chair ; and what
with the excellence of the meal and the gaiety of
his entertainer, Somerset was soon completely at
his ease. When they had well eaten and drunk,
the old lady leaned back in her chair, and taking a
cat upon her lap, subjected her guest to a prolonged
but evidently mirthful scrutiny.
' I fear, madam,' said Somerset, ' that my manners
have not risen to the height of your preconceived
opinion.'
' My dear young man,' she replied, ' you were
never more mistaken in your life. I find you
ioo
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
charming, and you may very well have lighted on
a fairy godmother. I am not one of those who are
given to change their opinions, and short of sub-
stantial demerit, those who have once gained my
favour continue to enjoy it ; but I have a, singular
swiftness of decision, read my fellow men and
women with a glance, and have acted throughout
life on first impressions. Yours, as I tell you, has
been favourable ; and if, as I suppose, you are a
young fellow of somewhat idle habits, I think it
not improbable that we may strike a bargain.'
'Ah, madam,' returned Somerset, "you have
divined my situation. I am a man of birth, parts,
and breeding; excellent company, or at least so I
find myself; but by a peculiar iniquity of fate,
destitute alike of trade or money. I was, indeed,
this evening upon the quest of an adventure, re-
solved to close with any offer of interest, emolument,
or pleasure ; and your summons, which I profess I
am still at some loss to understand, jumped naturally
with the inclination of my mind. Call it, if you
will, impudence ; I am here, at least, prepared for
any proposition you can find it in your heart to
make, and resolutely determined to accept.'
'You express yourself very well,' replied the old
lady, ' and are certainly a droll and curious young
man. I should not care to affirm that you were
sane, for I have never found any one entirely so
besides myself; but at least the nature of your
madness entertains me, and I will reward you with
some description of my character and life.'
IOI
THE DYNAMITER
Thereupon the old lady, still fondling the cat
upon her lap, proceeded to narrate the following
particulars.
NARRATIVE OF THE SPIRITED
OLD LADY
I was the eldest daughter of the Reverend Bernard
Fanshawe, who held a valuable living in the diocese
of Bath and Wells. Our family, a very large one,
was noted for a sprightly and incisive wit, and came
of a good old stock where beauty was an heirloom.
In Christian grace of character we were unhappily
deficient. From my earliest years I saw and
deplored the defects of those relatives whose age
and position should have enabled them to conquer
my esteem ; and while I was yet a child, my father
married a second wife, in whom (strange to say) the
Fanshawe failings were exaggerated to a monstrous
and almost laughable degree. Whatever may be
said against me, it cannot be denied I was a pattern
daughter; but it was in vain that, with the most
touching patience, I submitted to my stepmother's
demands ; and from the hour she entered my father's
house, I may say that I met with nothing but in-
justice and ingratitude.
I stood not ak>ne, however, in the sweetness of
my disposition ; for one other of the family besides
myself was free from any violence of character.
Before I had reached the age of sixteen, this cousin,
102
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
John by name, had conceived for me a sincere but
silent passion ; and although the poor lad was too
timid to hint at the nature of his feelings, I had soon
divined and begun to share them. For some days I
pondered on the odd situation created for me by the
bashfulness of my admirer ; and at length, perceiving
that he began, in his distress, rather to avoid than
seek my company, I determined to take the matter
into my own hands. Finding him alone in a retired
part of the rectory garden, I told him that I had
divined his amiable secret ; that I knew with what
disfavour our union was sure to be regarded ; and
that, under the circumstances, I was prepared to flee
with him at once. Poor John was literally paralysed
with joy ; such was the force of his emotions, that he
could find no words in which to thank me ; and that
I, seeing him thus helpless, was obliged to arrange,
myself, the details of our flight, and of the stolen
marriage which was immediately to crown it. John
had been at that time projecting a visit to the
metropolis. In this I bade him persevere, and
promised on the following day to join him at the
Tavistock Hotel.
True, on my side, to every detail of our arrange-
ment, I arose, on the day in question, before the
servants, packed a few necessaries in a bag, took
with me the little money I possessed, and bade
farewell for ever to the rectory. I walked with good
spirits to a town some thirty miles from home ; and
was set down the next morning in this great city of
London. As I walked from the coach-office to the
103
THE DYNAMITER
hotel, I could not help exulting in the pleasant
change that had befallen me ; beholding, meanwhile,
with innocent delight, the traffic of the streets, and
depicting, in all the colours of fancy, the reception
that awaited me from John. But alas ! when I
inquired for Mr. Fanshawe, the porter assured me
there was no such gentleman among the guests. By
what channel our secret had leaked out, or what
pressure had been brought to bear on the too facile
John, I could never fathom. Enough that my
family had triumphed ; that I found myself alone
in London, tender in years, smarting under the most
sensible mortification, and by every sentiment of
pride and self-respect debarred for ever from my
father's house.
I rose under the blow, and found lodgings in the
neighbourhood of Euston Road, where, for the first
time in my life, I tasted the joys of independence.
Three days afterwards, an advertisement in The
Times directed me to the office of a solicitor whom I
knew to be in my father's confidence. There I was
given the promise of a very moderate allowance, and
a distinct intimation that I must never look to be
received at home. I could not but resent so cruel a
desertion, and I told the lawyer it was a meeting I
desired as little as themselves. He smiled at my
courageous spirit, paid me the first quarter of my
income, and gave me the remainder of my personal
effects, which had been sent to me, under his care,
in a couple of rather ponderous boxes. With these
I returned in triumph to my lodgings, more content
104
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
with my position than I should have thought possible
a week before, and fully determined to make the best
of the future.
All went well for several months ; and, indeed, it
was my own fault alone that ended this pleasant and
secluded episode of life. I have, I must confess, the
fatal trick of spoiling my inferiors. My landlady, to
whom I had as usual been overkind, impertinently
called me in fault for some particular too small to
mention ; and I, annoyed that I had allowed her the
freedom upon which she thus presumed, ordered her
to leave my presence. She stood a moment dumb,
and then, recalling her self-possession, 'Your bill,'
said she, ' shall be ready this evening, and to-morrow,
madam, you shall leave my house. See,' she added,
' that you are able to pay what you owe me ; for if I
do not receive the uttermost farthing, no box of
yours shall pass my threshold.'
I was confounded at her audacity, but, as a whole
quarter's income was due to me, not otherwise
affected by the threat. That afternoon, as I left
the solicitor's door, carrying in one hand, and done
up in a paper parcel, the whole amount of my for-
tune, there befell me one of those decisive incidents
that sometimes shape a life. The lawyer's office was
situate in a street that opened at the upper end upon
the Strand and was closed at the lower, at the time
of which I speak, by a row of iron railings looking
on the Thames. Down this street, then, I beheld
my stepmother advancing to meet me, and doubtless
bound to the very house I had just left. She was
105
THE DYNAMITER
attended by a maid whose face was new to me ; but
her own was too clearly printed on my memory ; and
the sight of it, even from a distance, filled me with
generous indignation. Flight was impossible. There
was nothing left but to retreat against the railing,
and with my back turned to the street, pretend to
be admiring the barges on the river or the chimneys
of transpontine London.
I was still so standing, and had not yet fully
mastered the turbulence of my emotions, when a
voice at my elbow addressed me with a trivial ques-
tion. It was the maid whom my stepmother, with
characteristic hardness, had left to await her on the
street, while she transacted her business with the
family solicitor. The girl did not know who I was ;
the opportunity was too golden to be lost ; and I was
soon hearing the latest news of my father's rectory
and parish. It did not surprise me to find that she
detested her employers ; and yet the terms in which
she spoke of them were hard to bear, hard to let pass
unchallenged. I heard them, however, without dis-
sent, for my self-command is wonderful ; and we
might have parted as we met, had she not proceeded,
in an evil hour, to criticise the rector's missing
daughter, and with the most shocking perversions
to narrate the story of her flight. My nature is so
essentially generous that I can never pause to reason.
I flung up my hand sharply, by way, as well as I
remember, of indignant protest ; and, in the act, the
packet slipped from my fingers, glanced between the
railings, and fell and sunk in the river. I stood a
1 06
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
moment petrified, and then, struck by the drollery of
the incident, gave way to peals of laughter. I was
still laughing when my stepmother reappeared, and
the maid, who doubtless considered me insane, ran
off to join her ; nor had I yet recovered my gravity
when I presented myself before the lawyer to solicit
a fresh advance. His answer made me serious
enough, for it was a flat refusal ; and it was not
until I had besought him even with tears, that he
consented to lend me ten pounds from his own
pocket. ' I am a poor man,' said he, ' and you must
look for nothing further at my hands.'
The landlady met me at the door. 'Here, madam,'
said she, with a curtsey insolently low, * here is my
bill. Would it inconvenience you to settle it at
once ? '
* You shall be paid, madam,' said I, ' in the morn-
ing, in the proper course.' And I took the paper
with a very high air, but inwardly quaking.
I had no sooner looked at it than I perceived
myself to be lost. I had been short of money and
had allowed my debt to mount ; and it had now
reached the sum, which I shall never forget, of
twelve pounds thirteen and fourpence halfpenny.
All evening I sat by the fire considering my situa-
tion. I could not pay the bill ; my landlady would
not suffer me to remove my boxes ; and without
either baggage or money, how was I to find another
lodging? For three months, unless I could invent
some remedy, I was condemned to be without a
roof and without a penny. It can surprise no one
107
THE DYNAMITER
that I decided on immediate flight ; but even here I
was confronted by a difficulty, for I had no sooner
packed my boxes than I found I was not strong
enough to move, far less to carry them.
In this strait I did not hesitate a moment, but
throwing on a shawl and bonnet, and covering my
face with a thick veil, I betook myself to that great
bazaar of dangerous and smiling chances, the pave-
ment of the city. It was already late at night, and
the weather being wet and windy, there were few
abroad besides policemen. These, on my present
mission, I had wit enough to know for enemies ; and
wherever I perceived their moving lanterns, I made
haste to turn aside and choose another thoroughfare.
A few miserable women still walked the pavement ;
here and there were young fellows returning drunk,
or ruffians of the lowest class lurking in the mouths
of alleys ; but of any one to whom I might appeal in
my distress, I began almost to despair.
At last, at the corner of a street, I ran into the
arms of one who was evidently a gentleman, and
who, in all his appointments, from his furred great-
coat to the fine cigar which he was smoking, com-
fortably breathed of wealth. Much as my face has
changed from its original beauty, I still retain (or so
I tell myself) some traces of the youthful lightness
of my figure. Even veiled as I then was, I could
perceive the gentleman was struck by my appear-
ance ; and this emboldened me for my adventure.
' Sir,' said I, with a quickly beating heart, ' sir, are
you one in whom a lady can confide ? '
1 08
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
' Why, my dear,' said he, removing his cigar, 'that
depends on circumstances. If you will raise your
veil '
' Sir,' I interrupted, ' let there be no mistake. I
ask you, as a gentleman, to serve me, but I offer no
reward.'
'That is frank,' said he; 'but hardly tempting.
And what, may I inquire, is the nature of the
service ? '
But I knew well enough it was not my interest to
tell him on so short an interview. 'If you will
accompany me,' said I, ' to a house not far from here,
you can see for yourself.'
He looked at me a while with hesitating eyes ;
and then, tossing away his cigar, which was not yet
a quarter smoked, ' Here goes ! ' said he, and with
perfect politeness offered me his arm. I was wise
enough to take it; to prolong our walk as far as
possible, by more than one excursion from the
shortest line; and to beguile the way with that
sort of conversation which should prove to him
indubitably from what station in society I sprang.
By the time we reached the door of my lodging, I
felt sure I had confirmed his interest, and might
venture, before I turned the pass-key, to beseech
him to moderate his voice and to tread softly. He
promised to obey me ; and I admitted him into the
passage and thence into my sitting-room, which was
fortunately next the door.
'And now,' said he, when with trembling fingers I
had lighted a candle, 'what is the meaning of all this?'
109
THE DYNAMITER
' I wish you,' said I, speaking with great difficulty,
'to help me out with these boxes — and I wish
nobody to know.'
He took up the candle. ' And I wish to see your
face,' said he.
I turned back my veil without a word, and looked
at him with every appearance of resolve that I could
summon up. For some time he gazed into my face,
still holding up the candle. ' Well,' said he at last,
' and where do you wish them taken ? '
I knew that I had gained my point ; and it was
with a tremor in my voice that I replied. ' I had
thought we might carry them between us to the
corner of Euston Road,' said I, 'where, even at this
late hour, we may still find a cab.'
'Very good,' was his reply; and he immediately
hoisted the heavier of my trunks upon his shoulder,
and taking one handle of the second, signed to me
to help him at the other end. In this order we
made good our retreat from the house, and without
the least adventure, drew pretty near to the corner
of Euston Road. Before a house, where there was
a light still burning, my companion paused. 'Let
us here,' said he, ' set down our boxes, while we go
forward to the end of the street in quest of a cab.
By doing so, we can still keep an eye upon their
safety ; and we avoid the very extraordinary figure
we should otherwise present — a young man, a young
lady, and a mass of baggage, standing castaway at
midnight on the streets of London.' So it was done,
and the event proved him to be wise ; for long before
no
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
there was any word of a cab, a policeman appeared
upon the scene, turned upon us the full glare of his
lantern, and hung suspiciously behind us in a door-
way.
* There seem to be no cabs about, policeman,' said
my champion, with affected cheerfulness. But the
constable's answer was ungracious ; and as for the
offer of a cigar, with which this rebuff was most
unwisely followed up, he refused it point-blank, and
without the least civility. The young gentleman
looked at me with a warning grimace, and there we
continued to stand, on the edge of the pavement, in
the beating rain, and with the policeman still silently
watching our movements from the doorway.
At last, and after a delay that seemed interminable,
a four-wheeler appeared lumbering along in the mud,
and was instantly hailed by my companion. ' Just
pull up here, will you ? ' he cried. ' We have some
baggage up the street.'
And now came the hitch of our adventure ; for
when the policeman, still closely following us, beheld
my two boxes lying in the rain, he arose from mere
suspicion to a kind of certitude of something evil.
The light in the house had been extinguished ; the
whole frontage of the street was dark; there was
nothing to explain the presence of these unguarded
trunks ; and no two innocent people were ever, I
believe, detected in such questionable circumstances.
' Where have these things come from ? ' asked the
policeman, flashing his light full into my champion's
face.
m
THE DYNAMITER
' Why, from that house, of course,' replied the
young gentleman, hastily shouldering a trunk.
The policeman whistled and turned to look at the
dark windows ; he then took a step towards the door,
as though to knock, a course which had infallibly
proved our ruin ; but seeing us already hurrying
down the street under our double burthen, thought
better or worse of it, and followed in our wake.
'For God's sake,' whispered my companion, 'tell
me where to drive to.'
' Anywhere,' I replied, with anguish. ' I have no
idea. Anywhere you like.'
Thus it befell that, when the boxes had been
stowed and I had already entered the cab, my
deliverer called out in clear tones the address of
the house in which we are now seated. The police-
man, I could see,, was staggered. This neighbour-
hood, so retired, so aristocratic, was far from what he
had expected. For all that, he took the number of
the cab, and spoke for a few seconds and with a
decided manner, in the cabman's ear.
' What can he have said ? ' I gasped, as soon as
the cab had rolled away.
' I can very well imagine,' replied my champion ;
' and I can assure you that you are now condemned
to go where I have said ; for, should we attempt to
change our destination by the way, the jarvey will
drive us straight to a police-office. Let me com-
pliment you on your nerves,' he added. ' I have
had, I believe, the most horrible fright of my exist-
ence.'
112
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
But my nerves, which he so much misjudged,
were in so strange a disarray that speech was now
become impossible ; and we made the drive thence-
forward in unbroken silence. When we arrived
before the door of our destination, the young gentle-
man alighted, opened it with a pass-key like one
who was at home, bade the driver carry the trunks
into the hall, and dismissed him with a handsome
fee. He then led me into this dining-room, looking
nearly as you behold it, but with certain marks of
bachelor occupancy, and hastened to pour out a
glass of wine, which he insisted on my drinking.
As soon as I could find my voice, ' In God's name,'
I cried, ' where am I ? '
He told me I was in his house, where I was very
welcome, and had no more urgent business than to
rest myself and recover my spirits. As he spoke
he offered me another glass of wine, of which,
indeed, I stood in great want, for I was faint, and
inclined to be hysterical. Then he sat down beside
the fire, lit another cigar, and for some time observed
me curiously in silence.
' And now,' said he, ' that you have somewhat
restored yourself, will you be kind enough to tell
me in what sort of crime I have become a partner ?
Are you murderer, smuggler, thief, or only the
harmless and domestic moonlight flitter ? '
I had been already shocked by his lighting a cigar
without permission, for I had not forgotten the one
he threw away on our first meeting; and now, at
these explicit insults, I resolved at once to re-
7— h 113
THE DYNAMITER
conquer his esteem. The judgment of the world
I have consistently despised, but I had already
begun to set a certain value on the good opinion of
my entertainer. Beginning with a note of pathos,
but soon brightening into my habitual vivacity and
humour, I rapidly narrated the circumstances of my
birth, my flight, and subsequent misfortunes. He
heard me to an end in silence, gravely smoking.
* Miss Fanshawe,' said he, when I had done, ' you
are a very comical and most enchanting creature ; and
I can see nothing for it but that I should return to-
morrow morning and satisfy your landlady's demands.'
'You strangely misinterpret my confidence,' was
my reply ; ' and if you had at all appreciated my
character, you would understand that I can take no
money at your hands.'
' Your landlady will doubtless not be so particular,'
he returned, ' ndr do I at all despair of persuading
even your unconquerable self. I desire you to
examine me with critical indulgence. My name is
Henry Luxmore, Lord Southwark's second son. I
possess nine thousand a year, the house in which
we are now sitting and seven others in the best
neighbourhoods in town. I do not believe I am
repulsive to the eye, and as for my character, you
have seen me under trial. I think you simply the
most original of created beings ; I need not tell you
what you know very well, that you are ravishingly
pretty ; and I have nothing more to add, except
that, foolish as it may appear, I am already head
over heels in love with you.'
114
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
'Sir,' said I, 'I am prepared to be misjudged;
but while I continue to accept your hospitality, that
fact alone should be enough to protect me from
insult.'
'Pardon me,' said he: 'I offer you marriage.'
And leaning back in his chair he replaced his cigar
between his lips.
I own I was confounded by an offer, not only so
unprepared, but couched in terms so singular. But
he knew very well how to obtain his purposes, for
he was not only handsome in person, but his very
coolness had a charm ; and to make a long story
short, a fortnight later I became the wife of the
Honourable Henry Luxmore.
For nearly twenty years I now led a life of almost
perfect quiet. My Henry had his weaknesses ; I
was twice driven to flee from his roof, but not for
long ; for though he was easily over-excited, his
nature was placable below the surface, and, with all
his faults, I loved him tenderly. At last he was
taken from me ; and such is the power of self-
deception, and so strange are the whims of the
dying, he actually assured me, with his latest breath,
that he forgave the violence of my temper !
There was but one pledge of the marriage, my
daughter Clara. She had, indeed, inherited a shadow
of her father's failing ; but in all things else, unless
my partial eyes deceived me, she derived her qualities
from me, and might be called my moral image. On
my side, whatever else I may have done amiss, as
a mother I was above reproach. Here, then, was
ii5
THE DYNAMITER
surely every promise for the future; here, at last,
was a relation in which I might hope to taste repose.
But it was not to be. You will hardly credit me
when I inform you that she ran away from home ;
yet such was the case. Some whim about oppressed
nationalities — Ireland, Poland, and the like — has
turned her brain ; and if you should anywhere en-
counter a young lady (I must say of remarkable
attractions) answering to the name of Luxmore,
Lake, or Fonblanque (for I am told she uses these
indifferently, as well as many others), tell her, from
me, that I forgive her cruelty, and though I will
never more behold her face, I am at any time pre-
pared to make her a liberal allowance.
On the death of Mr. Luxmore I sought oblivion
in the details of business. I believe I have men-
tioned that seven mansions, besides this, formed part
of Mr. Luxmore's property: I have found them
seven white elephants. The greed of tenants, the
dishonesty of solicitors, and the incapacity that sits
upon the bench, have combined together to make
these houses the burthen of my life. I had no
sooner, indeed, begun to look into these matters
for myself, than I discovered so many injustices and
met with so much studied incivility, that I was
plunged into a long series of lawsuits, some of
which are pending to this day. You must have
heard my name already ; I am the Mrs. Luxmore of
the Law Reports : a strange destiny, indeed, for one
born with an almost cowardly desire for peace !
But I am of the stamp of those who, when they
116
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
have once begun a task, will rather die than leave
their duty unfulfilled. I have met with every
obstacle : insolence and ingratitude from my own
lawyers ; in my adversaries, that fault of obstinacy
which is to me perhaps the most distasteful in the
calendar; from the bench, civility indeed — always,
I must allow, civility — but never a spark of indepen-
dence, never that knowledge of the law and love
of justice which we have a right to look for in a
judge, the most august of human officers. And
still, against all these odds, I have undissuadably
persevered.
It was after the loss of one of my innumerable
cases (a subject on which I will not dwell) that it
occurred to me to make a melancholy pilgrimage to
my various houses. Four were at that time tenant-
less and closed, like pillars of salt, commemorating
the corruption of the age and the decline of private
virtue. Three were occupied by persons who had
wearied me by every conceivable unjust demand
and legal subterfuge — persons whom, at that very
hour, I was moving heaven and earth to turn into
the street. This was perhaps the sadder spectacle
of the two ; and my heart grew hot within me to
behold them occupying, in my very teeth, and with
an insolent ostentation, these handsome structures
which were as much mine as the flesh upon my
body.
One more house remained for me to visit, that in
which we now are. I had let it (for at that period
I lodged in a hotel, the life that I have always
117
THE DYNAMITER
preferred) to a Colonel Geraldine, a gentleman
attached to Prince Florizel of Bohemia, whom you
must certainly have heard of; and I had supposed,
from the character and position of my tenant, that
here, at least, I was safe against annoyance. What
was my surprise to find this house also shuttered
and apparently deserted ! I will not deny that I
was offended ; I conceived that a house, like a yacht,
was better to be kept in commission ; and I pro-
mised myself to bring the matter before my solicitor
the following morning. Meanwhile the sight re-
called my fancy naturally to the past ; and, yielding
to the tender influence of sentiment, I sat down
opposite the door upon the garden parapet. It was
August, and a sultry afternoon, but that spot is
sheltered, as you may observe by daylight, under
the branches of a spreading chestnut ; the square,
too, was deserted ; there was a sound of distant
music in the air; and all combined to plunge me
into that most agreeable of states, which is neither
happiness nor sorrow, but shares the poignancy of
both.
From this I was recalled by the arrival of a large
van, very handsomely appointed, drawn by valuable
horses, mounted by several men of an appearance
more than decent, and bearing on its panels, instead
of a trader's name, a coat-of-arms too modest to be
deciphered from where I sat. It drew up before my
house, the door of which was immediately opened
by one of the men. His companions — I counted
seven of them in all — proceeded, with disciplined
118
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
activity, to take from the van and carry into the
house a variety of hampers, bottle-baskets, and boxes,
such as are designed for plate and n apery. The
windows of the dining-room were thrown widely
open, as though to air it ; and I saw some of those
within laying the table for a meal. Plainly, I con-
cluded, my tenant was about to return ; and while
still determined to submit to no aggression on my
rights, I was gratified by the number and discipline
of his attendants, and the quiet profusion that
appeared to reign in his establishment. I was still
so thinking when, to my extreme surprise, the win-
dows and shutters of the dining-room were once
more closed ; the men began to reappear from the
interior and resume their stations on the van ; the
last closed the door behind his exit ; the van drove
away ; and the house was once more left to itself,
looking blindly on the square with shuttered windows,
as though the whole affair had been a vision.
It was no vision, however ; for, as I rose to my
feet and thus brought my eyes a little nearer to the
level of the fanlight over the door, I saw that, though
the day had still some hours to run, the hall lamps
had been lighted and left burning. Plainly, then,
guests were expected, and were not expected before
night. For whom, I asked myself with indignation,
were such secret preparations likely to be made ?
Although no prude, I am a woman of decided views
upon morality ; if my house, to which my husband
had brought me, was to serve in the character of a
petite maison, I saw myself forced, however unwill-
119
THE DYNAMITER
ingly, into a new course of litigation ; and, deter-
mined to return and know the worst, I hastened to
my hotel for dinner.
I was at my post by ten. The night was clear
and quiet ; the moon rode very high and put the
lamps to shame ; and the shadow below the chest-
nut was black as ink. Here, then, I ensconced my-
self on the low parapet, with my back against the
railings, face to face with the moonlit front of my
old home, and ruminating gently on the past. Time
fled ; eleven struck on all the city clocks ; and
presently after I was aware of the approach of a
gentleman of stately and agreeable demeanour. He
was smoking as he walked ; his light paletot, which
was open, did not conceal his evening clothes ; and
he bore himself with a serious grace that immediately
awakened my attention. Before the door of this
house he took a pass-key from his pocket, quietly
admitted himself, and disappeared into the lamp-lit
hall.
He was scarcely gone when I observed another
and a much younger man approaching hastily from
the opposite side of the square. Considering the
season of the year and the genial mildness of the
night, he was somewhat closely muffled up ; and as
he came, for all his hurry, he kept looking nervously
behind him. Arrived before my door, he halted and
set one foot upon the step, as though about to enter ;
then, with a sudden change, he turned and began to
hurry away ; halted a second time, as if in painful
indecision ; and lastly, with a violent gesture, wheeled
120
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
about, returned straight to the door, and rapped upon
the knocker. He was almost immediately admitted
by the first arrival.
My curiosity was now broad awake. I made my-
self as small as I could in the very densest of the
shadow, and waited for the sequel. Nor had I long
to wait. From the same side of the square a second
young man made his appearance, walking slowly and
softly, and like the first, muffled to the nose. Before
the house he paused ; looked all about him with a
swift and comprehensive glance ; and seeing the
square lie empty in the moon and lamp-light, leaned
far across the area railings and appeared to listen
to what was passing in the house. From the dining-
room there came the report of a champagne cork,
and following upon that, the sound of rich and manly
laughter. The listener took heart of grace, produced
a key, unlocked the area gate, shut it noiselessly
behind him, and descended the stair. Just when
his head had reached the level of the pavement, he
turned half round and once more raked the square
with a suspicious eyeshot. The mufflings had fallen
lower round his neck ; the moon shone full upon
him ; and I was startled to observe the pallor and
passionate agitation of his face.
I could remain no longer passive. Persuaded that
something deadly was afoot, I crossed the roadway
and drew near the area railings. There was no one
below ; the man must therefore have entered the
house, with what purpose I dreaded to imagine. I
have at no part of my career lacked courage ; and
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THE DYNAMITER
now, finding the area gate was merely laid-to, I
pushed it gently open and descended the stairs.
The kitchen door of the house, like the area gate,
was closed but not fastened. It flashed upon me
that the criminal was thus preparing his escape ; and
the thought, as it confirmed the worst of my sus-
picions, lent me new resolve. I entered the house ;
and being now quite reckless of my life, I shut and
locked the door.
From the dining-room above I could hear the
pleasant tones of a voice in easy conversation. On
the ground floor all was not only profoundly silent,
but the darkness seemed to weigh upon my eyes.
Here, then, I stood for some time, having thrust
myself uncalled into the utmost peril, and being
destitute of any power to help or interfere. Nor
will I deny that fear had begun already to assail me,
when I became aware, all at once and as though by
some immediate but silent incandescence, of a certain
glimmering of light upon the passage floor. Towards
this I groped my way with infinite precaution ; and
having come at length as far as the angle of the
corridor, beheld the door of the butler's pantry
standing just ajar and a narrow thread of brightness
falling from the chink. Creeping still closer, I put
my eye to the aperture. The man sat within upon
a chair, listening, I could see, with the most rapt
attention. On a table before him he had laid a
watch, a pair of steel revolvers, and a bull's-eye
lantern. For one second many contradictory theories
and projects whirled together in my head ; the next,
122
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
I had slammed the door and turned the key upon
the malefactor. Surprised at my own decision, I
stood and panted, leaning on the wall. From within
the pantry not a sound was to be heard ; the man,
whatever he was, had accepted his fate without a
struggle, and now, as I hugged myself to fancy, sat
frozen with terror and looking for the worst to
follow. I promised myself that he should not be
disappointed ; and the better to complete my task, I
turned to ascend the stairs.
The situation, as I groped my way to the first
floor, appealed to me suddenly by my strong sense
of humour. Here was I, the owner of the house,
burglariously present in its walls ; and there, in the
dining-room, were two gentlemen, unknown to me,
seated complacently at supper, and only saved by
my promptitude from some surprising or deadly
interruption. It were strange if I could not manage
to extract the matter of amusement from so unusual
a situation.
Behind this dining-room there is a small apart-
ment intended for a library. It was to this that I
cautiously groped my way ; and you will see how
fortune had exactly served me. The weather, I
have said, was sultry : in order to ventilate the
dining-room and yet preserve the uninhabited appear-
ance of the mansion to the front, the window of the
library had been widely opened and the door of com-
munication between the two apartments left ajar.
To this interval I now applied my eye.
Wax tapers, set in silver candlesticks, shed their
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chastened brightness on the damask of the table-
cloth and the remains of a cold collation of the rarest
delicacy. The two gentlemen had finished supper,
and were now trifling with cigars and maraschino ;
while in a silver spirit-lamp, coffee of the most cap-
tivating fragrance was preparing in the fashion of the
East. The elder of the two, he who had first arrived,
was placed directly facing me ; the other was set on
his left hand. Both, like the man in the butler's
pantry, seemed to be intently listening ; and on
the face of the second I thought I could perceive
the marks of fear. Oddly enough, however, when
they came to speak, the parts were found to be
reversed.
' I assure you,' said the elder gentleman, ' I not
only heard the slamming of a door, but the sound of
very guarded footsteps.'
1 Your highness was certainly deceived,' replied the
other. ' I am endowed with the acutest hearing, and
I can swear that not a mouse has rustled.' Yet the
pallor and contraction of his features were in total
discord with the tenor of his words.
His highness (whom, of course, I readily divined
to be Prince Florizel) looked at his companion for
the least fraction of a second ; and though nothing
shook the easy quiet of his attitude, I could see that
he was far from being duped. ' It is well,' said he :
' let us dismiss the topic. And now, sir, that I have
very freely explained the sentiments by which I am
directed, let me ask you, according to your promise,
to imitate my frankness.'
124
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
■ I have heard you,' replied the other, ' with great
interest.'
' With singular patience,' said the prince politely.
'Ay, your highness, and with unlooked-for sym-
pathy,' returned the young man. ' I know not how
to tell the change that has befallen me. You have,
I must suppose, a charm, to which even your enemies
are subject.' He looked at the clock on the mantel-
piece and visibly blanched. ' So late ! ' he cried.
'Your highness — God knows I am now speaking
from the heart — before it be too late, leave this
house ! '
The prince glanced once more at his companion,
and then very deliberately shook the ash from his
cigar. ' That is a strange remark,' said he ; ' and a
propos de bottes, I never continue a cigar when once
the ash is fallen ; the spell breaks, the soul of the
flavour flies away, and there remains but the dead
body of tobacco ; and I make it a rule to throw away
that husk and choose another.' He suited the action
to the words.
' Do not trifle with my appeal,' resumed the young
man, in tones that trembled with emotion. 'It is
made at the price of my honour and to the peril of
my life. Go — go now ! lose not a moment ; and if
you have any kindness for a young man, miserably
deceived indeed, but not devoid of better sentiments,
look not behind you as you leave.'
' Sir,' said the prince, ' I am here upon your
honour ; I assure you upon mine that I shall con-
tinue to rely upon that safeguard. The coffee is
125
THE DYNAMITER
ready ; I must again trouble you, I fear.' And with
a courteous movement of the hand, he seemed to
invite his companion to pour out the coffee.
The unhappy young man rose from his seat. ' I
appeal to you,' he cried, ' by every holy sentiment,
in mercy to me, if not in pity to yourself, begone
before it is too late.'
' Sir,' replied the prince, ' I am not readily acces-
sible to fear ; and if there is one defect to which I
must plead guilty, it is that of a curious disposition.
You go the wrong way about to make me leave this
house, in which I play the part of your entertainer ;
and, suffer me to add, young man, if any peril
threaten us, it was of your contriving, not of mine.'
'Alas, you do not know to what you condemn
me,' cried the other. ' But I at least will have no
hand in it.' With these words he carried his hand
to his pocket, hastily swallowed the contents of a
phial, and, with the very act, reeled back and fell
across his chair upon the floor. The prince left his
place and came and stood above him, where he lay
convulsed upon the carpet. ' Poor moth ! ' I heard
his highness murmur. ' Alas, poor moth ! must we
again inquire which is the more fatal — weakness
or wickedness ? And can a sympathy with ideas,
surely not ignoble in themselves, conduct a man to
this dishonourable death?'
By this time I had pushed the door open and
walked into the room. ' Your highness,' said I, ' this
is no time for moralising ; with a little promptness
we may save this creature's life ; and as for the other,
126
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
he need cause you no concern, for I have him safely
under lock and key.'
The prince had turned about upon my entrance,
and regarded me certainly with no alarm, but with a
profundity of wonder which almost robbed me of my
self-possession. ' My dear madam,' he cried at last,
' and who the devil are you ? '
I was already on the floor beside the dying man.
I had, of course, no idea with what drug he had
attempted his life, and I was forced to try him with
a variety of antidotes. Here were both oil and vine-
gar, for the prince had done the young man the
honour of compounding for him one of his celebrated
salads ; and of each of these I administered from a
quarter to half a pint, with no apparent efficacy. I
next plied him with the hot coffee, of which there
may have been near upon a quart.
* Have you no milk ? ' I inquired.
' I fear, madam, that milk has been omitted,' re-
turned the prince.
' Salt, then,' said I ; ' salt is a revulsive. Pass the
salt.'
* And possibly the mustard ? ' asked his highness,
as he offered me the contents of the various salt-
cellars poured together on a plate.
' Ah,' cried I, ' the thought is excellent ! Mix me
about half a pint of mustard, drinkably dilute.'
Whether it was the salt or the mustard, or the
mere combination of so many subversive agents, as
soon as the last had been poured over his throat, the
young sufferer obtained relief.
127
THE DYNAMITER
• There ! ' I exclaimed, with natural triumph, ' I
have saved a life ! '
'And yet, madam,' returned the prince, 'your
mercy may be cruelty disguised. Where the honour
is lost, it is, at least, superfluous to prolong the life.'
' If you had led a life as changeable as mine, your
highness,' I replied, ' you would hold a very different
opinion. For my part, and after whatever extremity
of misfortune or disgrace, I should still count to-
morrow worth a trial.'
' You speak as a lady, madam,' said the prince ;
'and for such you speak the truth. But to men
there is permitted such a field of licence, and the
good behaviour asked of them is at once so easy and
so little, that to fail in that is to fall beyond the
reach of pardon. But will you suffer me to repeat a
question, put to you at first, I am afraid, with some
defect of courtesy ; and to ask you once more, who
you are and how I have the honour of your com-
pany ? '
' I am the proprietor of the house in which we
stand,' said I.
' And still I am at fault,' returned the prince.
But at that moment the timepiece on the mantel-
shelf began to strike the hour of twelve ; and the
young man, raising himself upon one elbow, with an
expression of despair and horror that I have never
seen excelled, cried lamentably : ' Midnight ? oh, just
God ! ' We stood frozen to our places, while the
tingling hammer of the timepiece measured the re-
maining strokes ; nor had we yet stirred, so tragic
128
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
had been the tones of the young man, when the
various bells of London began in turn to declare the
hour. The timepiece was inaudible beyond the walls
of the chamber where we stood ; but the second pul-
sation of Big Ben had scarcely throbbed into the
night, before a sharp detonation rang about the
house. The prince sprang for the door by which I
had entered ; but quick as he was, I yet contrived to
intercept him.
' Are you armed ? ' I cried.
'No, madam,' replied he. ' You remind me appo-
sitely ; I will take the poker.'
'The man below,' said I, 'has two revolvers.
Would you confront him at such odds ? '
He paused, as though staggered in his purpose.
' And yet, madam,' said he, ' we cannot continue to
remain in ignorance of what has passed.'
' No ! ' cried I. ' And who proposes it ? I am as
curious as yourself, but let us rather send for the
police; or, if your highness dreads a scandal, for
some of your own servants.'
' Nay, madam,' he replied, smiling, ' for so brave a
lady, you surprise me. Would you have me, then,
send others where I fear to go myself ? '
'You are perfectly right,' said I, 'and I was
entirely wrong. Go, in God's name, and I will
hold the candle ! '
Together, therefore, we descended to the lower
story, he carrying the poker, I the light; and to-
gether we approached and opened the door of the
butler's pantry. In some sort, I believe, I was pre-
7—1 129
THE DYNAMITER
pared for the spectacle that met our eyes ; I was
prepared, that is, to find the villain dead, but the
rude details of such a violent suicide I was unable to
endure. The prince, unshaken by horror as he had
remained unshaken by alarm, assisted me with the
most respectful gallantry to regain the dining-room.
There we found our patient, still, indeed, deadly
pale, but vastly recovered and already seated on a
chair. He held out both his hands with a most
pitiful gesture of interrogation.
' He is dead,' said the prince.
' Alas ! ' cried the young man, ' and it should be I !
What do I do, thus lingering on the stage I have
disgraced, while he, my sure comrade, blameworthy
indeed for much, but yet the soul of fidelity, has
judged and slain himself for an involuntary fault?
Ah, sir,' said' he, ' and you too, madam, without
whose cruel help I should be now beyond the reach
of my accusing conscience, you behold in me the
victim equally of my own faults and virtues. I was
born a hater of injustice ; from my most tender years
my blood boiled against Heaven when I beheld the
sick, and against men when I witnessed the sorrows
of the poor ; the pauper's crust stuck in my throat
when I sat down to eat my dainties, and the cripple
child has set me weeping. What was there in that
but what was noble ? and yet observe to what a fall
these thoughts have led me ! Year after year this
passion for the lost besieged me closer. What hope
was there in kings ? what hope in these well-feathered
classes that now roll in money ? I had observed the
130
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
course of history ; I knew the burgess, our ruler of
to-day, to be base, cowardly, and dull ; I saw him,
in every age, combine to pull down that which was
immediately above and to prey upon those that were
below ; his dulness, I knew, would ultimately bring
about his ruin ; I knew his days were numbered, and
yet how was I to wait ? how was I to let the poor
child shiver in the rain ? The better days, indeed,
were coming, but the child would die before that
Alas, your highness, in surely no ungenerous im-
patience I enrolled myself among the enemies of this
unjust and doomed society ; in surely no unnatural
desire to keep the fires of my philanthropy alight, I
bound myself by an irrevocable oath.
' That oath is all my history. To give freedom to
posterity, I had forsworn my own. I must attend
upon every signal ; and soon my father complained
of my irregular hours and turned me from his house.
I was engaged in betrothal to an honest girl ; from
her also I had to part, for she was too shrewd to
credit my inventions and too innocent to be intrusted
with the truth. Behold me, then, alone with con-
spirators ! Alas ! as the years went on, my illusions
left me. Surrounded as I was by the fervent dis-
ciples and apologists of revolution, I beheld them
daily advance in confidence and desperation ; I
beheld myself, upon the other hand, and with an
almost equal regularity, decline in faith. I had
sacrificed all to further that cause in which I still
believed ; and daily I began to grow in doubts if we
were advancing it indeed. Horrible was the society
131
THE DYNAMITER
with which we warred, but our own means were not
less horrible.
' I will not dwell upon my sufferings ; I will not
pause to tell you how, when I beheld young men
still free and happy, married, fathers of children,
cheerfully toiling at their work, my heart reproached
me with the greatness and vanity of my unhappy
sacrifice. I will not describe to you how, worn by
poverty, poor lodging, scanty food, and an unquiet
conscience, my health began to fail, and in the long
nights, as I wandered bedless in the rainy streets, the
most cruel sufferings of the body were added to the
tortures of my mind. These things are not personal
to me ; they are common to all unfortunates in my
position. An oath, so light a thing to swear, so
grave a thing to break : an oath, taken in the heat of
youth, repented with what sobbings of the heart, but
yet in vain repented, as the years go on : an oath,
that was once the very utterance of the truth of
God, but that falls to be the symbol of a meaning-
less and empty slavery ; such is the yoke that many
young men joyfully assume, and under whose dead
weight they live to suffer worse than death.
' It is not that I was patient. I have begged to
be released ; but I knew too much, and I was still
refused. I have fled ; ay, and for the time success-
fully. I reached Paris. I found a lodging in the
Rue St. Jacques, almost opposite the Val de Grace.
My room was mean and bare, but the sun looked
into it towards evening ; it commanded a peep of a
green garden ; a bird hung by a neighbour's window
132
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
and made the morning beautiful ; and I, who was
sick, might lie in bed and rest myself : I, who was in
full revolt against the principles that I had served,
was now no longer at the beck of the council, and
was no longer charged with shameful and revolting
tasks. Oh ! what an interval of peace was that ! I
still dream, at times, that I can hear the note of my
neighbour's bird.
* My money was running out, and it became neces-
sary that I should find employment. Scarcely had
I been three days upon the search, ere I thought
that I was being followed. I made certain of the
features of the man, which were quite strange to me,
and turned into a small cafe, where I whiled away
an hour, pretending to read the papers, but inwardly
convulsed with terror, When I came forth again
into the street, it was quite empty, and I breathed
again ; but alas, I had not turned three corners,
when I once more observed the human hound pur-
suing me. Not an hour was to be lost ; timely sub-
mission might yet preserve a life which otherwise
was forfeit and dishonoured ; and I fled, with what
speed you may conceive, to the Paris agency of the
society I served.
' My submission was accepted. I took up once
more the hated burthen of that life ; once more I
was at the call of men whom I despised and hated,
while yet I envied and admired them. They at least
were whole-hearted in the things they purposed ; but
I, who had once been such as they, had fallen from
the brightness of my faith, and now laboured, like a
133
THE DYNAMITER
hireling, for the wages of a loathed existence. Ay,
sir, to that I was condemned ; I obeyed to continue
to live, and lived but to obey.
' The last charge that was laid upon me was the
one which has to-night so tragically ended. Boldly
telling who I was, I was to request from your high-
ness, on behalf of my society, a private audience,
where it was designed to murder you. If one thing
remained to me of my old convictions, it was the
hate of kings ; and when this task was offered me, I
took it gladly. Alas, sir, you triumphed. As we
supped, you gained upon my heart. Your character,
your talents, your designs for our unhappy country,
all had been misrepresented. I began to forget you
were a prince ; I began, all too feelingly, to remem-
ber that you were a man. As I saw the hour
approach, I suffered agonies untold ; and when, at
last, we heard the slamming of the door which
announced in my unwilling ears the arrival of the
partner of my crime, you will bear me out with what
instancy I besought you to depart. You would not,
alas ! and what could I ? Kill you, I could not ; my
heart revolted, my hand turned back from such a
deed. Yet it was impossible that I should suffer
you to stay ; for when the hour struck and my com-
panion came, true to his appointment, and he, at
least, true to our design, I could neither suffer you
to be killed nor yet him to be arrested. From such
a tragic passage, death, and death alone, could save
me ; and it is no fault of mine if I continue to
exist. '
134
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
' But you, madam,' continued the young man,
addressing himself more directly to myself, ' were
doubtless born to save the prince and to confound
our purposes. My life you have prolonged ; and
by turning the key on my companion, you have
made me the author of his death. He heard the
hour strike ; he was impotent to help ; and thinking
himself forfeit to honour, thinking that I should fall
alone upon his highness and perish for lack of his
support, he has turned his pistol on himself.'
' You are right,' said Prince Florizel : ' it was in
no ungenerous spirit that you brought these burthens
on yourself ; and when I see you so nobly to blame,
so tragically punished, I stand like one reproved.
For is it not strange, madam, that you and I, by
practising accepted and inconsiderable virtues, and
commonplace but still unpardonable faults, should
stand here, in the sight of God, with what we call
clean hands and quiet consciences ; while this poor
youth, for an error that I could almost envy him,
should be sunk beyond the reach of hope ?
' Sir,' resumed the prince, turning to the young
man, ' I cannot help you ; my help would but un-
chain the thunderbolt that overhangs you ; and I
can but leave you free.'
' And, sir,' said I, ' as this house belongs to me, I
will ask you to have the kindness to remove the
body. You and your conspirators, it appears to me,
can hardly in civility do less.'
'It shall be done,' said the young man, with a
dismal accent.
135
THE DYNAMITER
' And you, dear madam,' said the prince, ' you, to
whom I owe my life, how can I serve you ? '
' Your highness,' I said, * to be very plain, this is
my favourite house, being not only a valuable pro-
perty, but endeared to me by various associations.
I have endless troubles with tenants of the ordinary
class ; and at first applauded my good fortune when
I found one of the station of your Master of the
Horse. I now begin to think otherwise ; dangers
set a siege about great personages ; and I do not
wish my tenement to share these risks. Procure me
the resiliation of the lease, and I shall feel myself
your debtor.'
' I must tell you, madam,' replied his highness,
* that Colonel Geraldine is but a cloak for myself ;
and I should be sorry indeed to think myself so un-
acceptable a tenant.'
' Your highness,' said I, ' I have conceived a sincere
admiration for your character ; but on the subject of
house property I cannot allow the interference of
my feelings. I will, however, to prove to you that
there is nothing personal in my request, here solemnly
engage my word that I will never put another tenant
in this house.'
' Madam,' said Florizel, ' you plead your cause too
charmingly to be refused.'
Thereupon we all three withdrew. The young
man, still reeling in his walk, departed by himself to
seek the assistance of his fellow-conspirators ; and
the prince, with the most attentive gallantry, lent
me his escort to the door of my hotel. The next
136
THE SPIRITED OLD LADY
day the lease was cancelled ; nor from that hour to
this, though sometimes regretting my engagement,
have I suffered a tenant in this house.
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION {continued)
As soon as the old lady had finished her relation,
Somerset made haste to offer her his compliments.
6 Madam,' said he, ' your story is not only enter-
taining but instructive ; and you have told it with
infinite vivacity. I was much affected towards the
end, as I held at one time very liberal opinions, and
should certainly have joined a secret society if I had
been able to find one. But the whole tale came
home to me ; and I was the better able to feel for
you in your various perplexities, as I am myself of
somewhat hasty temper.'
' I do not understand you,' said Mrs. Luxmore,
with some marks of irritation. ' You must have
strangely misinterpreted what I have told you. You
fill me with surprise.'
Somerset, alarmed by the old lady's change of tone
and manner, hurried to recant.
' Dear Mrs. Luxmore,' said he, ' you certainly mis-
construe my remark. As a man of somewhat fiery
humour, my conscience repeatedly pricked me when
I heard what you had suffered at the hands of
persons similarly constituted.'
' Oh, very well indeed,' replied the old lady ; ' and
137
THE DYNAMITER
a very proper spirit. I regret that I have met with
it so rarely.'
' But in all this,' resumed the young man, ' I per-
ceive nothing that concerns myself.'
' I am about to come to that,' she returned. ' And
you have already before you, in the pledge I gave
Prince Florizel, one of the elements of the affair. I
am a woman of the nomadic sort, and when I have
no case before the courts I make it a habit to visit
continental spas : not that I have ever been ill ; but
then I am no longer young, and I am always happy
in a crowd. Well, to come more shortly to the
point, I am now on the wing for Evian ; this in-
cubus of a house, which I must leave behind and
dare not let, hangs heavily upon my hands ; and I
propose to rid myself of that concern, and do you a
very good t!urn into the bargain, by lending you
the mansion, with all its fittings, as it stands. The
idea was sudden ; it appealed to me as humorous ;
and I am sure it will cause my relatives, if they
should ever hear of it, the keenest possible chagrin.
Here, then, is the key ; and when you return at
two to-morrow afternoon, you will find neither me
nor my cats to disturb you in your new posses-
sion.'
So saying, the old lady arose, as if to dismiss her
visitor ; but Somerset, looking somewhat blankly on
the key, began to protest.
'Dear Mrs. Luxmore,' said he, 'this is a most
unusual proposal. You know nothing of me, beyond
the fact that I displayed both impudence and timidity.
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THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
I may be the worst kind of scoundrel ; I may sell
your furniture '
' You may blow up the house with gunpowder, for
what I care ! ' cried Mrs. Luxmore. ' It is in vain
to reason. Such is the force of my character that,
when I have one idea clearly in my head, I do
not care two straws for any side consideration. It
amuses me to do it, and let that suffice. On your
side, you may do what you please — let apartments,
or keep a private hotel ; on mine, I promise you a
full month's warning before I return, and I never
fail religiously to keep my promises.'
The young man was about to renew his protest,
when he observed a sudden and significant change
in the old lady's countenance.
' If I thought you capable of disrespect ! ' she cried.
' Madam,' said Somerset, with the extreme fervour
of asseveration, ' madam, I accept. I beg you to
understand that I accept with joy and gratitude.'
' Ah, well,' returned Mrs. Luxmore, ' if I am mis-
taken, let it pass. And now, since all is comfortably
settled, I wish you a good-night.'
Thereupon, as if to leave him no room for repent-
ance, she hurried Somerset out of the front door,
and left him standing, key in hand, upon the pave-
ment.
The next day, about the hour appointed, the
young man found his way to the square, which I
will here call Golden Square, though that was not its
name. What to expect, he knew not ; for a man
may live in dreams, and yet be unprepared for their
139
THE DYNAMITER
realisation. It was already with a certain pang of
surprise that he beheld the mansion, standing in the
eye of day, a solid among solids. The key, upon
trial, readily opened the front door ; he entered that
great house, a privileged burglar ; and, escorted by
the echoes of desertion, rapidly reviewed the empty
chambers. Cats, servant, old lady, the very marks
of habitation, like writing on a slate, had been in
these few hours obliterated. He wandered from
floor to floor, and found the house of great extent ;
the kitchen offices commodious and well appointed ;
the rooms many and large ; and the drawing-room,
in particular, an apartment of princely size and taste-
ful decoration. Although the day without was warm,
genial, and sunny, with a ruffling wind from the
quarter of Torquay, a chill, as it were, of suspended
animation, inhabited the house. Dust and shadows
met the eye ; and but for the ominous procession
of the echoes, and the rumour of the wind among
the garden trees, the ear of the young man was
stretched in vain.
Behind the dining-room, that pleasant library,
referred to by the old lady in her tale, looked upon
the flat roofs and netted cupolas of the kitchen
quarters ; and on a second visit, this room appeared
to greet him with a smiling countenance. He might
as well, he thought, avoid the expense of lodging :
the library fitted with an iron bedstead which he had
remarked, in one of the upper chambers, would serve
his purpose for the night ; while in the dining-room,
which was large, airy, and lightsome, looking on the
140
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
square and garden, he might very agreeably pass his
days, cook his meals, and study to bring himself to
some proficiency in that art of painting which he had
recently determined to adopt. It did not take him
long to make the change : he had soon returned to
the mansion with his modest kit ; and the cabman
who brought him was readily induced, by the young
man's pleasant manner and a small gratuity, to assist
him in the installation of the iron bed. By six in
the evening, when Somerset went forth to dine, he
was able to look back upon the mansion with a sense
of pride and property. Four-square it stood, of an
imposing frontage, and flanked on either side by
family hatchments. His eye, from where he stood
whistling in the key, with his back to the garden
railings, reposed on every feature of reality ; and yet
his own possession seemed as flimsy as a dream.
In the course of a few days, the genteel inhabit-
ants of the square began to remark the customs of
their neighbour. The sight of a young gentleman
discussing a clay pipe, about four o'clock of the
afternoon, in the drawing-room balcony of so discreet
a mansion ; and perhaps still more, his periodical
excursion to a decent tavern in the neighbourhood,
and his unabashed return, nursing the full tankard :
had presently raised to a high pitch the interest and
indignation of the liveried servants of the square.
The disfavour of some of these gentlemen at first
proceeded to the length of insult; but Somerset
knew how to be affable with any class of men ;
and a few rude words merrily accepted, and a few
141
THE DYNAMITER
glasses amicably shared, gained for him the right of
toleration.
The young man had embraced the art of Raphael,
partly from a notion of its ease, partly from an
inborn distrust of offices. He scorned to bear the
yoke of any regular schooling ; and proceeded to
turn one half of the dining-room into a studio for
the reproduction of still life. There he amassed a
variety of objects, indiscriminately chosen from the
kitchen, the drawing-room, and the back garden ;
and there spent his days in smiling assiduity. Mean-
time, the great bulk of empty building overhead lay,
like a load, upon his imagination. To hold so great
a stake and to do nothing, argued some defect of
energy ; and he at length determined to act upon
the hint given by Mrs. Luxmore herself, and to
stick, with wafers, in the window of the dining-room,
a small handbill announcing furnished lodgings. At
half-past six of a fine July morning, he affixed the
bill, and went forth into the square to study the
result. It seemed, to his eye, promising and un-
pretentious ; and he returned to the drawing-room
balcony to consider, over a studious pipe, the knotty
problem of how much he was to charge.
Thereupon he somewhat relaxed in his devotion
to the art of painting. Indeed, from that time forth,
he would spend the best part of the day in the front
balcony, like the attentive angler poring on his float ;
and the better to support the tedium, he would
frequently console himself with his clay pipe. On
several occasions passers-by appeared to be arrested
142
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
by the ticket, and on several others ladies and gen-
tlemen drove to the very doorstep by the carriageful ;
but it appeared there was something repulsive in the
appearance of the house ; for, with one accord, they
would cast but one look upward, and hastily resume
their onward progress, or direct the driver to proceed.
Somerset had thus the mortification of actually meet-
ing the eye of a large number of lodging-seekers ;
and though he hastened to withdraw his pipe, and to
compose his features to an air of invitation, he was
never rewarded by so much as an inquiry. 'Can
there,' he thought, 'be anything repellent in myself?'
But a candid examination in one of the pier-glasses
of the drawing-room led him to dismiss the fear.
Something, however, was amiss. His vast and
accurate calculations on the fly-leaves of books, or
on the backs of play-bills, appeared to have been an
idle sacrifice of time. By these, he had variously
computed the weekly takings of the house, from
sums as modest as five-and-twenty shillings, up to
the more majestic figure of a hundred pounds ; and
yet, in despite of the very elements of arithmetic,
here he was making literally nothing.
This incongruity impressed him deeply and occu-
pied his thoughtful leisure on the balcony ; and at
last it seemed to him that he had detected the error
of his method. ' This,' he reflected, ' is an age of
generous display : the age of the sandwich-man, of
Griffiths, of Pears' legendary soap, and of Eno's fruit
salt which, by sheer brass and notoriety, and the
most disgusting pictures I ever remember to have
143
THE DYNAMITER
seen, has overlaid that comforter of my childhood,
Lamplough's pyretic saline. Lamplough was gen-
teel, Eno was omnipresent; Lamplough was trite,
Eno original and abominably vulgar ; and here have
I, a man of some pretensions to knowledge of the
world, contented myself with half a sheet of note-
paper, a few cold words which do not directly
address the imagination, and the adornment (if
adornment it may be called) of four red wafers !
Am I, then, to sink with Lamplough, or to soar with
Eno ? Am I to adopt that modesty which is doubt-
less becoming in a duke ? or to take hold of the red
facts of life with the emphasis of the tradesman and
the poet ? '
Pursuant upon these meditations, he procured
several sheets of the very largest size of drawing-
paper ; and laying forth his paints, proceeded to
compose an ensign that might attract the eye and at
the same time, in his own phrase, directly address
the imagination of the passenger. Something taking
in the way of colour, a good, savoury choice of
words, and a realistic design setting forth the life a
lodger might expect to lead within the walls of that
palace of delight : these, he perceived, must be the
elements of his advertisement. It was possible,
upon the one hand, to depict the sober pleasures of
domestic life, the evening fire, blond-headed urchins,
and the hissing urn ; but on the other, it was pos-
sible (and he almost felt as if it were more suited to
his muse) to set forth the charms of an existence
somewhat wider in its range or, boldly say, the
144
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
paradise of the Mohammedan. So long did the
artist waver between these two views, that, before
he arrived at a conclusion, he had finally conceived
and completed both designs. With the proverbially
tender heart of the parent, he found himself unable
to sacrifice either of these offspring of his art ; and
decided to expose them on alternate days. ' In this
way,' he thought, 'I shall address myself indifferently
to all classes of the world.'
The tossing of a penny decided the only remaining
point ; and the more imaginative canvas received
the suffrages of fortune and appeared first in the
window of the mansion. It was of a high fancy,
the legend eloquently writ, the scheme of colour
taking and bold ; and but for the imperfection of the
artist's drawing, it might have been taken for a
model of its kind. As it was, however, when viewed
from his favourite point against the garden railings,
and with some touch of distance, it caused a plea-
surable rising of the artist's heart. ' I have thrown
away,' he ejaculated, ' an invaluable motive ; and this
shall be the subject of my first Academy picture.'
The fate of neither of these works was equal to its
merit. A crowd would certainly, from time to time,
collect before the area-railings ; but they came to
jeer and not to speculate ; and those who pushed
their inquiries further, were too plainly animated by
the spirit of derision. The racier of the two cartoons
displayed, indeed, no symptom of attractive merit ;
and though it had a certain share of that success
called scandalous, failed utterly of its effect. On the
7— k 145
THE DYNAMITER
day, however, of the second appearance of the com-
panion work, a real inquirer did actually present
himself before the eyes of Somerset.
This was a gentlemanly man, with some marks of
recent merriment, and his voice under inadequate
control.
' I beg your pardon,' said he, • but what is the
meaning of your extraordinary bill ? '
' I beg yours,' returned Somerset hotly. ' Its
meaning is sufficiently explicit.' And being now,
from dire experience, fearful of ridicule, he was pre-
paring to close the door, when the gentleman thrust
his cane into the aperture.
' Not so fast, I beg of you,' said he. ' If you really
let apartments, here is a possible tenant at your door ;
and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to
see the accommodation and to learn your terms.'
His heart joyously beating, Somerset admitted the
visitor, showed him over the various apartments,
and, with some return of his persuasive eloquence,
expounded their attractions. The gentleman was
particularly pleased by the elegant proportions of
the drawing-room.
' This,' he said, ' would suit me very well. What,
may I ask, would be your terms a week, for this floor
and the one above it ? '
' I was thinking,' returned Somerset, ' of a hundred
pounds. '
' Surely not,' exclaimed the gentleman.
'Well, then,' returned Somerset, 'fifty.'
The gentleman regarded him with an air of some
146
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
amazement. 'You seem to be strangely elastic in
your demands,' said he. 'What if I were to pro-
ceed on your own principle of division, and offer
twenty-five ? '
' Done ! ' cried Somerset ; and then, overcome by
a sudden embarrassment, ' You see,' he added apolo-
getically, * it is all found money for me.'
'Really?' said the stranger, looking at him all
the while with growing wonder. ' Without extras,
then ? '
'I — I suppose so,' stammered the keeper of the
lodging-house.
' Service included ? ' pursued the gentleman.
'Service?' cried Somerset. 'Do you mean that
you expect me to empty your slops ?'
The gentleman regarded him with a very friendly
interest. ' My dear fellow,' said he, ' if you take my
advice, you will give up this business.' And there-
upon he resumed his hat and took himself away.
This smarting disappointment produced a strong
effect on the artist of the cartoons ; and he began
with shame to eat up his rosier illusions. First one
and then the other of his great works was con-
demned, withdrawn from exhibition, and relegated,
as a mere wall-picture, to the decoration of the
dining-room. Their place was taken by a replica
of the original wafered announcement, to which,
in particularly large letters, he had added the pithy
rubric: 'No service.' Meanwhile he had fallen into
something as nearly bordering on low spirits as was
consistent with his disposition ; depressed, at once by
147
THE DYNAMITER
the failure of his scheme, the laughable turn of his
late interview, and the judicial blindness of the
public to the merit of the twin cartoons.
Perhaps a week had passed before he was again
startled by the note of the knocker. A gentleman
of a somewhat foreign and somewhat military air,
yet closely shaven and wearing a soft hat, desired in
the politest terms to visit the apartments. He had
(he explained) a friend, a gentleman in tender health,
desirous of a sedate and solitary life, apart from
interruptions and the noises of the common lodging-
house. ' The unusual clause,' he continued, ' in your
announcement, particularly struck me. " This," I
said, "is the place for Mr. Jones." You are your-
self, sir, a professional gentleman?' concluded the
visitor, looking keenly in Somerset's face.
' I am an artist,' replied the young man lightly.
'And these,' observed the other, taking a side
glance through the open door of the dining-room,
which they were then passing, 'these are some of
your works. Very remarkable.' And he again and
still more sharply peered into the countenance of
the young man.
Somerset, unable to suppress a blush, made the
more haste to lead his visitor upstairs and to display
the apartments.
'Excellent,' observed the stranger, as he looked
from one of the back windows. 'Is that a mews
behind, sir ? Very good. Well, sir : see here. My
friend will take your drawing-room floor ; he will
sleep in the back drawing-room ; his nurse, an excel -
148
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
lent Irish widow, will attend on all his wants and
occupy a garret ; he will pay you the round sum of
ten dollars a week ; and you, on your part, will
engage to receive no other lodger? I think that
fair.'
Somerset had scarcely words in which to clothe his
gratitude and joy.
' Agreed,' said the other ; ' and to spare you trouble,
my friend will bring some men with him to make the
changes. You will find him a retiring inmate, sir ;
receives but few, and rarely leaves the house except
at night.'
' Since I have been in this house,' returned Somer-
set, ' I have myself, unless it were to fetch beer,
rarely gone abroad except in the evening. But a
man,' he added, 'must have some amusement.'
An hour was then agreed on ; the gentleman
departed ; and Somerset sat down to compute in
English money the value of the figure named. The
result of this investigation filled him with amaze-
ment and disgust ; but it was now too late ; nothing
remained but to endure ; and he awaited the arrival
of his tenant, still trying, by various arithmetical
expedients, to obtain a more favourable quotation
for the dollar. With the approach of dusk, how-
ever, his impatience drove him once more to the
front balcony. The night fell, mild and airless ; the
lamps shone around the central darkness of the
garden ; and through the tall grove of trees that
intervened, many warmly illuminated windows on
the farther side of the square told their tale of white
149
THE DYNAMITER
napery, choice wine, and genial hospitality. The
stars were already thickening overhead, when the
young man's eyes alighted on a procession of three
four-wheelers, coasting round the garden railing and
bound for the Superfluous Mansion. They were
laden with formidable boxes ; moved in a military
order, one following another ; and, by the extreme
slowness of their advance, inspired Somerset with
the most serious ideas of his tenant's malady.
By the time he had the door open, the cabs had
drawn up beside the pavement ; and from the two
first, there had alighted the military gentleman of
the morning and two very stalwart porters. These
proceeded instantly to take possession of the house ;
with their own hands, and firmly rejecting Somerset's
assistance, they carried in the various crates and
boxes ; with their own hands dismounted and trans-
ferred to the back drawing-room the bed in which
the tenant was to sleep ; and it was not until the
bustle of arrival had subsided, and the arrangements
were complete, that there descended, from the third
of the three vehicles, a gentleman of great stature
and broad shoulders, leaning on the shoulder of a
woman in a widow's dress, and himself covered by a
long cloak and muffled in a coloured comforter.
Somerset had but a glimpse of him in passing ; he
was soon shut into the back drawing-room ; the
other men departed; silence redescended on the
house ; and had not the nurse appeared a little
before half-past ten, and, with a strong brogue,
asked if there were a decent public-house in the
150
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
neighbourhood, Somerset might have still supposed
himself to be alone in the Superfluous Mansion.
Day followed day ; and still the young man had
never come by speech or sight of his mysterious
lodger. The doors of the drawing-room flat were
never open ; and although Somerset could hear him
moving to and fro, the tall man had never quitted
the privacy of his apartments. Visitors, indeed,
arrived ; sometimes in the dusk, sometimes at in-
tempestuous hours of night or morning ; men, for
the most part ; some meanly attired, some decently ;
some loud, some cringeing ; and yet all, in the eyes
of Somerset, displeasing. A certain air of fear and
secrecy was common to them all ; they were all
voluble, he thought, and ill at ease ; even the mili-
tary gentleman proved, on a closer inspection, to be
no gentleman at all ; and as for the doctor who
attended the sick man, his manners were not sug-
gestive of a university career. The nurse, again,
was scarcely a desirable house-fellow. Since her
arrival, the fall of whisky in the young man's private
bottle was much accelerated ; and though never com-
municative, she was at times unpleasantly familiar.
When asked about the patient's health, she would
dolorously shake her head, and declare that the poor
gentleman was in a pitiful condition.
Yet somehow Somerset had early begun to enter-
tain the notion that his complaint was other than
bodily. The ill-looking birds that gathered to the
house, the strange noises that sounded from the
drawing-room in the dead hours of night, the care-
151
THE DYNAMITER
less attendance and intemperate habits of the nurse,
the entire absence of correspondence, the entire
seclusion of Mr. Jones himself, whose face, up to
that hour, he could not have sworn to in a court of
justice — all weighed unpleasantly upon the young
man's mind. A sense of something evil, irregular
and underhand, haunted and depressed him ; and
this uneasy sentiment was the more firmly rooted
in his mind, when, in the fulness of time, he had
an opportunity of observing the features of his
tenant. It fell in this way. The young landlord
was awakened about four in the morning by a noise
in the hall. Leaping to his feet, and opening the
door of the library, he saw the tall man, candle in
hand, in earnest conversation with the gentleman
who had taken the rooms. The faces of both were
strongly illuminated ; and in that of his tenant,
Somerset could perceive none of the marks of
disease, but every sign of health, energy, and resolu-
tion. While he was still looking, the visitor took
his departure; and the invalid, having carefully
fastened the front door, sprang upstairs without a
trace of lassitude.
That night upon his pillow, Somerset began to
kindle once more into the hot fit of the detective
fever ; and the next morning resumed the practice
of his art with careless hand and an abstracted mind.
The day was destined to be fertile in surprises ; nor
had he long been seated at the easel ere the first of
these occurred. A cab laden with baggage drew
up before the door ; and Mrs. Luxmore in person
152
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
rapidly mounted the steps and began to pound upon
the knocker. Somerset hastened to attend the
summons.
' My dear fellow,' she said, with the utmost gaiety,
'here I come dropping from the moon. I am
delighted to find you faithful ; and I have no doubt
you will be equally pleased to be restored to liberty.'
Somerset could find no words, whether of protest
or welcome ; and the spirited old lady pushed briskly
by him and paused on the threshold of the dining-
room. The sight that met her eyes was one well
calculated to inspire astonishment. The mantel-
piece was arrayed with saucepans and empty bottles ;
on the fire some chops were frying; the floor was
littered from end to end with books, clothes, walking-
canes, and the materials of the painter's craft ; but
what far outstripped the other wonders of the place
was the corner which had been arranged for the
study of still-life. This formed a sort of rockery ;
conspicuous upon which, according to the principles
of the art of composition, a cabbage was relieved
against a copper kettle, and both contrasted with the
mail of a boiled lobster.
' My gracious goodness ! ' cried the lady of the
house ; and then, turning in wrath on the young
man, ' from what rank in life are you sprung ? ' she
demanded. ' You have the exterior of a gentleman ;
but from the astonishing evidences before me, I
should say you can only be a greengrocer's man.
Pray, gather up your vegetables, and let me see no
more of you.'
153
THE DYNAMITER
' Madam,' babbled Somerset, * you promised me a
month's warning.'
' That was under a misapprehension,' returned the
old lady. ' I now give you warning to leave at
once.'
' Madam,' said the young man, ' I wish I could ;
and indeed, as far as I am concerned, it might be
done. But then, my lodger ! '
' Your lodger ? ' echoed Mrs. Luxmore.
' My lodger : why should I deny it ? ' returned
Somerset. ' He is only by the week.'
The old lady sat down upon a chair. ' You have
a lodger ? — you ? ' she cried. ' And pray, how did
you get him ? '
' By advertisement,' replied the young man. ' O
madam, I have not lived unobservantly. I adopted '
— his eyes involuntarily shifted to the cartoons — ' I
adopted every method.'
Her eyes had followed his ; for the first time in
Somerset's experience, she produced a double eye-
glass ; and as soon as the full merit of the works had
flashed upon her, she gave way to peal after peal of
her trilling and soprano laughter.
' Oh, I think you are perfectly delicious ! ' she cried,
' I do hope you had them in the window. M'Pher-
son,' she continued, crying to her maid, who had
been all this time grimly waiting in the hall, ' I
lunch with Mr. Somerset. Take the cellar key
and bring some wine.'
In this gay humour, she continued throughout the
luncheon ; presented Somerset with a couple of dozen
154
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
of wine, which she made M'Pherson bring up from
the cellar, — ' as a present, my dear,' she said, with
another burst of tearful merriment, ' for your charm-
ing pictures, which you must be sure to leave me
when you go ' ; and finally, protesting that she dared
not spoil the absurdest houseful of madmen in the
whole of London, departed (as she vaguely phrased
it) for the continent of Europe.
She was no sooner gone than Somerset en-
countered in the corridor the Irish nurse ; sober, to
all appearance, and yet a prey to singularly strong
emotion. It was made to appear, from her account,
that Mr. Jones had already suffered acutely in his
health from Mrs. Luxmore's visit, and that nothing
short of a full explanation could allay the invalid's
uneasiness. Somerset, somewhat staring, told what
he thought fit of the affair.
'Is that all?' cried the woman. 'As God sees
you, is that all ? '
'My good woman,' said the young man, 'I have
no idea what you can be driving at. Suppose the
lady were my friend's wife, suppose she were my
fairy godmother, suppose she were the Queen of
Portugal ; and how should that affect yourself or
Mr. Jones ? '
' Blessed Mary ! ' cried the nurse, ' it 's he that will
be glad to hear it ! '
And immediately she fled upstairs.
Somerset, on his part, returned to the dining-room,
and, with a very thoughtful brow and ruminating
many theories, disposed of the remainder of the
155
THE DYNAMITER
bottle. It was port ; and port is a wine, sole among
its equals and superiors, that can in some degree
support the competition of tobacco. Sipping, smok-
ing, and theorising, Somerset moved on from sus-
picion to suspicion, from resolve to resolve, still
growing braver and rosier as the bottle ebbed. He
was a sceptic, none prouder of the name ; he had no
horror at command, whether for crimes or vices, but
beheld and embraced the world, with an immoral
approbation, the frequent consequence of youth and
health. At the same time, he felt convinced that he
dwelt under the same roof with secret malefactors ;
and the unregenerate instinct of the chase impelled
him to severity. The bottle had run low ; the sum-
mer sun had finally withdrawn ; and at the same
moment, night and the pangs of hunger recalled him
from his dreams.
He went forth, and dined in the Criterion : a
dinner in consonance, not so much with his purse,
as with the admirable wine he had discussed. What
with one thing and another, it was long past mid-
night when he returned home. A cab was at the
door ; and entering the hall, Somerset found himself
face to face with one of the most regular of the few
who visited Mr. Jones : a man of powerful figure,
strong lineaments, and a chin-beard in the American
fashion. This person was carrying on one shoulder
a black portmanteau, seemingly of considerable
weight. That he should find a visitor removing
baggage in the dead of night, recalled some odd
stories to the young man's memory ; he had heard
156
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
of lodgers who thus gradually drained away, not only
their own effects, but the very furniture and fittings
of the house that sheltered them ; and now, in a
mood between pleasantry and suspicion, and aping
the manner of a drunkard, he roughly bumped against
the man with the chin-beard and knocked the port-
manteau from his shoulder to the floor. With a face
struck suddenly as white as paper, the man with the
chin-beard called lamentably on the name of his
Maker, and fell in a mere heap on the mat at the
foot of the stairs. At the same time, though only
for a single instant, the heads of the sick lodger and
the Irish nurse popped out like rabbits over the
banisters of the first floor ; and on both the same
scare and pallor were apparent.
The sight of this incredible emotion turned Somer-
set to stone, and he continued speechless, while the
man gathered himself together, and, with the help of
the handrail and audibly thanking God, scrambled
once more upon his feet.
'What in Heavens name ails you?' gasped the
young man as soon as he could find words and
utterance.
' Have you a drop of brandy ? ' returned the other.
' I am sick.'
Somerset administered two drams, one after the
other, to the man with the chin-beard; who then,
somewhat restored, began to confound himself in
apologies for what he called his miserable nervous-
ness — the result, he said, of a long course of dumb
ague ; and having taken leave with a hand that still
157
THE DYNAMITER
sweated and trembled, he gingerly resumed his
burthen and departed.
Somerset retired to bed but not to sleep. What,
he asked himself, had been the contents of the black
portmanteau ? Stolen goods ? the carcass of one
murdered ? or — and at the thought he sat upright in
bed — an infernal machine ? He took a solemn vow
that he would set these doubts at rest ; and, with the
next morning, installed himself beside the dining-
room window, vigilant with eye and ear, to await
and profit by the earliest opportunity.
The hours went heavily by. Within the house
there was no circumstance of novelty ; unless it
might be that the nurse more frequently made little
journeys round the corner of the square, and before
afternoon was somewhat loose of speech and gait.
A little after six, however, there came round the
corner of the gardens a very handsome and elegantly
dressed young woman, who paused a little way off,
and for some time, and with frequent sighs, contem-
plated the front of the Superfluous Mansion. It
was not the first time that she had thus stood afar
and looked upon it, like our common parents at the
gates of Eden ; and the young man had already had
occasion to remark the lively slimness of her carriage,
and had already been the butt of a chance arrow
from her eye. He hailed her coming, then, with
pleasant feelings, and moved a little nearer to the
window to enjoy the sight. What was his surprise,
however, when, as if with a sensible effort, she drew
near, mounted the steps, and tapped discreetly at the
158
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
door ! He made haste to get before the Irish nurse,
who was not improbably asleep, and had the satis-
faction to receive this gracious visitor in person.
She inquired for Mr. Jones ; and then, without
transition, asked the young man if he were the
person of the house (and at the words, he thought
he could perceive her to be smiling), ' because,' she
added, 'if you are, I should like to see some of the
other rooms.'
Somerset told her he was under an engagement to
receive no other lodgers ; but she assured him that
would be no matter, as these were friends of Mr.
Jones's. ' And,' she continued, moving suddenly to
the dining-room door, 'let us begin here.' Somerset
was too late to prevent her entering, and perhaps he
lacked the courage to essay. ' Ah ! ' she cried, ' how
changed it is ! '
'Madam,' cried the young man, 'since your en-
trance, it is I who have the right to say so.'
She received this inane compliment with a demure
and conscious droop of the eyelids, and gracefully
steering her dress among the mingled litter, now
with a smile, now with a sigh, reviewed the wonders
of the two apartments. She gazed upon the cartoons
with sparkling eyes, and a heightened colour, and,
in a somewhat breathless voice, expressed a high
opinion of their merits. She praised the effective
disposition of the rockery, and in the bedroom, of
which Somerset had vainly endeavoured to defend
the entry, she fairly broke forth in admiration.
' How simple and manly ! ' she cried : ' none of that
159
THE DYNAMITER
effeminacy of neatness, which is so detestable in a
man ! ' Hard upon this, telling him, before he had
time to reply, that she very well knew her way, and
would trouble him no further, she took her leave
with an engaging smile, and ascended the staircase
alone.
For more than an hour the young lady remained
closeted with Mr. Jones; and at the end of that
time, the night being now come completely, they
left the house in company. This was the first time
since the arrival of his lodger that Somerset had
found himself alone with the Irish widow; and
without the loss of any more time than was required
by decency, he stepped to the foot of the stairs
and hailed her by her name. She came instantly,
wreathed in weak smiles and with a nodding head ;
and when the young man politely offered to intro-
duce her to the treasures of his art, she swore that
nothing could afford her greater pleasure, for, though
she had never crossed the threshold, she had fre-
quently observed his beautiful pictures through the
door. On entering the dining-room, the sight of a
bottle and two glasses prepared her to be a gentle
critic ; and as soon as the pictures had been viewed
and praised, she was easily persuaded to join the
painter in a single glass. ' Here,' she said, ' are my
respects ; and a pleasure it is, in this horrible house,
to see a gentleman like yourself, so affable and free,
and a very nice painter, I am sure.' One glass so
agreeably prefaced, was sure to lead to the acceptance
of a second ; at the third, Somerset was free to cease
1 60
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
from the affectation of keeping her company ; and as
for the fourth, she asked it of her own accord. ' For
indeed,' said she, 'what with all these clocks and
chemicals, without a drop of the creature life would
be impossible entirely. And you seen yourself that
even M'Guire was glad to beg for it. And even
himself, when he is downhearted with all these cruel
disappointments, though as temperate a man as any
child, will be sometimes crying for a glass of it.
And I '11 thank you for a thimbleful to settle what I
got.' Soon after, she began with tears to narrate
the deathbed dispositions and lament the trifling
assets of her husband. Then she declared she heard
'the master' calling her, rose to her feet, made
but one lurch of it into the still-life rockery, and,
with her head upon the lobster, fell into stertorous
slumbers.
Somerset mounted at once to the first story, and
opened the door of the drawing-room, which was
brilliantly lit by several lamps. It was a great
apartment ; looking on the square with three tall
windows, and joined by a pair of ample folding-doors
to the next room ; elegant in proportion, papered in
sea-green, furnished in velvet of a delicate blue, and
adorned with a majestic mantelpiece of variously
tinted marbles. Such was the room that Somerset
remembered ; that which he now beheld was changed
in almost every feature : the furniture covered with
a figured chintz ; the walls hung with a rhubarb-
coloured paper, and diversified by the curtained
recesses for no less than seven windows. It seemed
7— l 161
THE DYNAMITER
to himself that he must have entered, without
observing the transition, into the adjoining house.
Presently from these more specious changes, his eye
condescended to the many curious objects with
which the floor was littered. Here were the locks
of dismounted pistols ; clocks and clockwork in
every stage of demolition, some still busily ticking,
some reduced to their dainty elements ; a great
company of carboys, jars, and bottles ; a carpenter's
bench and a laboratory-table.
The back drawing-room, to which Somerset pro-
ceeded, had likewise undergone a change. It was
transformed to the exact appearance of a common
lodging-house bedroom ; a bed with green curtains
occupied one corner; and the window was blocked
by the regulation table and mirror. The door of
a small closet here attracted the young man's
attention ; and striking a vesta, he opened it and
entered. On a table, several wigs and beards were
lying spread ; about the walls hung an incongruous
display of suits and overcoats ; and conspicuous
among the last the young man observed a large
overall of the most costly sealskin. In a flash his
mind reverted to the advertisement in the Standard
newspaper. The great height of his lodger, the
disproportionate breadth of his shoulders, and the
strange particulars of his instalment, all pointed to
the same conclusion.
The vesta had now burned to his fingers ; and
taking the coat upon his arm, Somerset hastily
returned to the lighted drawing-room. There, with
162
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
a mixture of fear and admiration, he pored upon its
goodly proportions and the regularity and softness
of the pile. The sight of a large pier-glass put
another fancy in his head. He donned the fur coat ;
and standing before the mirror in an attitude sugges-
tive of a Russian prince, he thrust his hands into
the ample pockets. There his fingers encountered a
folded journal. He drew it out, and recognised the
type and paper of the Standard', and at the same
instant his eyes alighted on the offer of two hundred
pounds. Plainly then, his lodger, now no longer
mysterious, had laid aside his coat on the very day
of the appearance of the advertisement.
He was thus standing, the tell-tale coat upon his
back, the incriminating paper in his hand, when the
door opened and the tall lodger, with a firm but
somewhat pallid face, stepped into the room and
closed the door again behind him. For some time
the two looked upon each other in perfect silence ;
then Mr. Jones moved forward to the table, took a
seat, and, still without once changing the direction
of his eyes, addressed the young man.
' You are right,' he said. ' It is for me the blood
money is offered. And now what will you do ? '
It was a question to which Somerset was far from
being able to reply. Taken as he was at unawares,
masquerading in the man's own coat, and surrounded
by a whole arsenal of diabolical explosives, the keeper
of the lodging-house was silenced.
' Yes,' resumed the other, * I am he. I am that
man, whom with impotent hate and fear they still
163
THE DYNAMITER
hunt from den to den, from disguise to disguise.
Yes, my landlord, you have it in your power, if you
be poor, to lay the basis of your fortune ; if you be
unknown, to capture honour at one snatch. You
have hocussed an innocent widow ; and I find you
here in my apartment, for whose use I pay you in
stamped money, searching my wardrobe, and your
hand — shame, sir ! — your hand in my very pocket.
You can now complete the cycle of your ignominious
acts, by what will be at once the simplest, the safest,
and the most remunerative.' The speaker paused
as if to emphasise his words ; and then, with a great
change of tone and manner, thus resumed : ' And
yet, sir, when I look upon your face, I feel certain
that I cannot be deceived : certain that in spite of
all, I have the honour and pleasure of speaking to
a gentleman. Take off my coat, sir — which but
cumbers you. Divest yourself of this confusion :
that which is but thought upon, thank God, need be
no burthen to the conscience ; we have all harboured
guilty thoughts ; and if it flashed into your mind to
sell my flesh and blood, my anguish in the dock, and
the sweat of my death agony — it was a thought,
dear sir, you were as incapable of acting on, as I
of any further question of your honour.' At these
words, the speaker, with a very open, smiling coun-
tenance, like a forgiving father, offered Somerset his
hand.
It was not in the young man's nature to refuse
forgiveness or dissect generosity. He instantly, and
almost without thought, accepted the proffered grasp.
164
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
' And now,' resumed the lodger, ' now that I hold
in mine your loyal hand, I lay by my apprehensions,
I dismiss suspicion, I go further — by an effort of
will, I banish the memory of what is past. How
you came here, I care not : enough that you are
here — as my guest. Sit ye down ; and let us, with
your good permission, improve acquaintance over a
glass of excellent whisky.'
So speaking, he produced glasses and a bottle ;
and the pair pledged each other in silence.
'Confess,' observed the smiling host, 'you were
surprised at the appearance of the room.'
' I was indeed,' said Somerset ; ' nor can I imagine
the purpose of these changes.'
'These,' replied the conspirator, 'are the device?
by which I continue to exist. Conceive me now,
accused before one of your unjust tribunals ; con-
ceive the various witnesses appearing, and the
singular variety of their reports ! One will have
visited me in this drawing-room as it originally
stood ; a second finds it as it is to-night ; and to-
morrow or next day, all may have been changed.
If you love romance (as artists do), few lives are
more romantic than that of the obscure individual
now addressing you. Obscure yet famous. Mine is
an anonymous, infernal glory. By infamous means, I
work towards my bright purpose. I found the liberty
and peace of a poor country desperately abused ; the
future smiles upon that land ; yet, in the meantime,
I lead the existence of a hunted brute, work towards
appalling ends, and practise hell's dexterities.'
165
THE DYNAMITER
Somerset, glass in hand, contemplated the strange
fanatic before him, and listened to his heated rhap-
sody, with indescribable bewilderment. He looked
him in the face with curious particularity ; saw there
the marks of education ; and wondered the more
profoundly.
' Sir,' he said — ' for I know not whether I should
still address you as Mr. Jones '
'Jones, Breitman, Higginbotham, Pumpernickel,
Daviot, Henderland, by all or any of these you may
address me,' said the plotter ; ' for all I have at some
time borne. Yet that which I most prize, that
which is most feared, hated, and obeyed, is not a
name to be found in your directories ; it is not a
name current in post-offices or banks ; and indeed,
like the celebrated clan M'Gregor, I may justly
describe myself as being nameless by day. But,'
he continued, rising to his feet, 'by night, and
among my desperate followers, I am the redoubted
Zero.'
Somerset was unacquainted with the name; but
he politely expressed surprise and gratification. ' I
am to understand,' he continued, ' that, under this
alias, you follow the profession of a dynamiter ? ' 1
1 The Arabian author of the original has here a long passage conceived
in a style too oriental for the English reader. We subjoin a specimen,
and it seems doubtful whether it should be printed as prose or verse :
' Any writard who writes dynamitard shall find in me a never-resting
fightard ' ; and he goes on (if we correctly gather his meaning) to object
to such elegant and obviously correct spellings as lamp-lightard, corn-
dealard, apple-filchard (clearly justified by the parallel — pilchard) and
opera danceard. ' Dynamitist/ he adds, ' I could understand.'
1 66
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
The plotter had resumed his seat and now re-
plenished the glasses.
' I do,' he said. * In this dark period of time,
a star — the star of dynamite — has risen for the
oppressed ; and among those who practise its use,
so thick beset with dangers and attended by such
incredible difficulties and disappointments, few have
been more assiduous, and not many ' He paused,
and a shade of embarrassment appeared upon his
face — 'not many have been more successful than
myself.'
' I can imagine,' observed Somerset, ' that, from
the sweeping consequences looked for, the career is
not devoid of interest. You have, besides, some of
the entertainment of the game of hide-and-seek.
But it would still seem to me — I speak as a layman
— that nothing could be simpler or safer than to
deposit an infernal machine and retire to an adjacent
county to await the painful consequences.'
' You speak, indeed,' returned the plotter, with
some evidence of warmth, ' you speak, indeed, most
ignorantly. Do you make nothing, then, of such a
peril as we share this moment ? Do you think it
nothing to occupy a house like this one, mined,
menaced, and, in a word, literally tottering to its
fall?'
' Good God ! ' ejaculated Somerset.
' And when you speak of ease,' pursued Zero, ' in
this age of scientific studies, you fill me with surprise.
Are you not aware that chemicals are proverbially
fickle as woman, and clockwork as capricious as the
167
THE DYNAMITER
very devil ? Do you see upon my brow these furrows
of anxiety ? do you observe the silver threads that
mingle with my hair ? Clockwork, clockwork has
stamped them on my brow — chemicals have sprinkled
them upon my locks ! No, Mr. Somerset,' he re-
sumed, after a moment's pause, his voice still quiver-
ing with sensibility, ' you must not suppose the
dynamiter's life to be all gold. On the contrary :
you cannot picture to yourself the bloodshot vigils
and the staggering disappointments of a life like
mine. I have toiled (let us say) for months, up early
and down late ; my bag is ready, my clock set ; a
daring agent has hurried with white face to de-
posit the instrument of ruin ; we await the fall
of England, the massacre of thousands, the yell of
fear and execration ; and lo ! a snap like that of a
child's pistol, an offensive smell, and the entire loss
of so much time and plant ! If,' he concluded
musingly, ' we had been merely able to recover the
lost bags, I believe, with but a touch or two, I could
have remedied the peccant engine. But what with
the loss of plant and the almost insuperable scientific
difficulties of the task, our friends in France are
almost ready to desert the chosen medium. They
propose, instead, to break up the drainage system of
cities and sweep off whole populations with the
devastating typhoid pestilence : a tempting and a
scientific project : a process, indiscriminate indeed,
but of idyllical simplicity. I recognise its elegance ;
but, sir, I have something of the poet in my nature ;
something, possibly, of the tribune. And, for my
1 68
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
small part, I shall remain devoted to that more em-
phatic, more striking, and (if you please) more popular
method of the explosive bomb. Yes,' he cried, with
unshaken hope, ' I will still continue and, I feel it in
my bosom, I shall yet succeed.'
' Two things I remark,' said Somerset. ' The first
somewhat staggers me. Have you, then — in all this
course of life, which you have sketched so vividly —
have you not once succeeded ? '
' Pardon me,' said Zero. ' I have had one success.
You behold in me the author of the outrage of Red
Lion Court.'
' But if I remember right,' objected Somerset, ' the
thing was a fiasco. A scavenger's barrow and some
copies of the Weekly Budget — these were the only
victims.'
' You will pardon me again,' returned Zero, with
positive asperity : ' a child was injured.'
1 And that fitly brings me to my second point,'
said Somerset. * For I observed you to employ the
word "indiscriminate." Now, surely, a scavenger's
barrow and a child (if child there were) represent the
very acme and top pin-point of indiscriminate and,
pardon me, of ineffectual reprisal.'
' Did I employ the word ? ' asked Zero. ' Well,
I will not defend it. But for efficiency, you touch
on graver matters ; and before entering upon so vast
a subject, permit me once more to fill our glasses.
Disputation is dry work,' he added, with a charming
gaiety of manner.
Once more accordingly the pair pledged each other
169
THE DYNAMITER
in a stalwart grog ; and Zero, leaning back with an
air of some complacency, proceeded more largely to
develop his opinions.
' The indiscriminate ? ' he began. ' War, my dear
sir, is indiscriminate. War spares not the child ; it
spares not the barrow of the harmless scavenger.
No more,' he concluded, beaming, ' no more do I.
Whatever may strike fear, whatever may confound
or paralyse the activities of the guilty nation, barrow,
or child, imperial Parliament or excursion steamer,
is welcome to my simple plans. You are not,' he
inquired, with a shade of sympathetic interest, * you
are not, I trust, a believer ? '
' Sir, I believe in nothing,' said the young man.
6 You are then,' replied Zero, * in a position to
grasp my argument. We agree that humanity is
the object, the glorious triumph of humanity ; and
being pledged to labour for that end, and face to
face with the banded opposition of kings, parlia-
ments, churches, and the members of the force, who
am I — who are we, dear sir — to affect a nicety about
the tools employed ? You might, perhaps, expect
us to attack the Queen, the sinister Gladstone, the
rigid Derby, or the dexterous Granville ; but there
you would be in error. Our appeal is to the body
of the people ; it is these that we would touch and
interest. Now, sir, have you observed the English
housemaid ? '
' I should think I had,' cried Somerset.
' From a man of taste and a votary of art, I had
expected it,' returned the conspirator politely. ' A
170
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
type apart ; a very charming figure ; and thoroughly
adapted to our ends. The neat cap, the clean
print, the comely person, the engaging manner ; her
position between classes, parents in one, employers
in another ; the probability that she will have at least
one sweetheart, whose feelings we shall address : —
yes, I have a leaning — call it, if you will, a weakness
— for the housemaid. Not that I would be under-
stood to despise the nurse. For the child is a very
interesting feature : I have long since marked out
the child as the sensitive point in society.' He
wagged his head, with a wise, pensive smile. ' And
talking, sir, of children and of the perils of our trade,
let me now narrate to you a little incident of an
explosive bomb, that fell out some weeks ago under
my own observation. It fell out thus.'
And Zero leaning back in his chair narrated the
following simple tale.
ZERO'S TALE OF THE EXPLOSIVE
BOMB 1
I dined by appointment with one of our most trusted
agents, in a private chamber at St. James's Hall.
You have seen the man : it was M'Guire, the most
chivalrous of creatures, but not himself expert in our
1 The Arabian author, with that quaint particularity of touch which
our translation usually pretermits, here registers a somewhat interesting
detail. Zero pronounced the word ' hoom ' ; and the reader, if but for
the nonce, will possibly consent to follow him.
171
THE DYNAMITER
contrivances. Hence the necessity of our meeting ;
for I need not remind you what enormous issues
depend upon the nice adjustment of the engine. I set
our little petard for half an hour, the scene of action
being hard by ; and, the better to avert miscarriage,
employed a device, a recent invention of my own,
by which the opening of the Gladstone bag in which
the bomb was carried should instantly determine
the explosion. M'Guire was somewhat dashed by
this arrangement, which was new to him : and
pointed out, with excellent, clear good sense, that
should he be arrested, it would probably involve him
in the fall of our opponents. But I was not to be
moved, made a strong appeal to his patriotism, gave
him a good glass of whisky, and despatched him on
his glorious errand.
Our objective was the effigy of Shakespeare in
Leicester Square : a spot, I think, admirably chosen ;
not only for the sake of the dramatist, still very
foolishly claimed as a glory by the English race, in
spite of his disgusting political opinions ; but from
the fact that the seats in the immediate neighbour-
hood are often thronged by children, errand-boys,
unfortunate young ladies of the poorer class, and
infirm old men — all classes making a direct appeal
to public pity, and therefore suitable with our designs.
As M'Guire drew near, his heart was inflamed by the
most noble sentiment of triumph. Never had he
seen the garden so crowded ; children, still stumb-
ling in the impotence of youth, ran to and fro,
shouting and playing, round the pedestal ; an old,
172
ZERO'S TALE
sick pensioner sat upon the nearest bench, a medal
on his breast, a stick with which he walked (for he
was disabled by wounds) reclining on his knee.
Guilty England would thus be stabbed in the most
delicate quarters ; the moment had, indeed, been
well selected ; and M'Guire, with a radiant prevision
of the event, drew merrily nearer. Suddenly his eye
alighted on the burly form of a policeman, standing
hard by the effigy in an attitude of watch. My bold
companion paused ; he looked about him closely ;
here and there, at different points of the enclosure,
other men stood or loitered, affecting an abstraction,
feigning to gaze upon the shrubs, feigning to talk,
feigning to be weary and to rest upon the benches.
M'Guire was no child in these affairs ; he instantly
divined one of the plots of the Machiavellian Glad-
stone.
A chief difficulty with which we have to deal is a
certain nervousness in the subaltern branches of the
corps ; as the hour of some design draws near, these
chicken-souled conspirators appear to suffer some
revulsion of intent ; and frequently despatch to the
authorities, not indeed specific denunciations, but
vague anonymous warnings. But for this purely
accidental circumstance, England had long ago
been an historical expression. On the receipt of
such a letter, the Government lay a trap for their
adversaries, and surround the threatened spot with
hirelings. My blood sometimes boils in my veins,
when I consider the case of those who sell themselves
for money in such a cause. True, thanks to the
173
THE DYNAMITER
generosity of our supporters, we patriots receive a
very comfortable stipend ; I myself, of course, touch
a salary which puts me quite beyond the reach of
any peddling, mercenary thoughts ; M'Guire, again,
ere he joined our ranks, was on the brink of starving,
and now, thank God ! receives a decent income.
That is as it should be ; the patriot must not be
diverted from his task by any base consideration ;
and the distinction between our position and that of
the police is too obvious to be stated.
Plainly, however, our Leicester Square design had
been divulged ; the Government had craftily filled
the place with minions ; even the pensioner was not
improbably a hireling in disguise ; and our emissary,
without other aid or protection than the simple
apparatus in his bag, found himself confronted by
force ; brutal force ; that strong hand which was a
character of the ages of oppression. Should he
venture to deposit the machine, it was almost certain
that he would be observed and arrested ; a cry would
arise ; and there was just a fear that the police might
not be present in sufficient force to protect him from
the savagery of the mob. The scheme must be
delayed. He stood with his bag on his arm, pre-
tending to survey the front of the Alhambra, when
there flashed into his mind a thought to appal the
bravest. The machine was set ; at the appointed
hour, it must explode ; and how, in the interval, was
he to be rid of it ?
Put yourself, I beseech you, into the body of that
patriot. There he was, friendless and helpless ; a
174
ZERO'S TALE
man in the very flower of life, for he is not yet
forty ; with long years of happiness before him ; and
now condemned, in one moment, to a cruel and
revolting death by dynamite ! The square, he said,
went round him like a thaumatrope ; he saw the
Alhambra leap into the air like a balloon ; and reeled
against the railing. It is probable he fainted.
When he came to himself, a constable had him by
the arm.
< My God ! ' he cried.
' You seem to be unwell, sir,' said the hireling.
' I feel better now,' cried poor M'Guire : and with
uneven steps, for the pavement of the square seemed
to lurch and reel under his footing, he fled from the
scene of this disaster. Fled ? Alas, from what was
he fleeing ? Did he not carry that from which he
fled, along with him ? and had he the wings of the
eagle, had he the swiftness of the ocean winds, could
he have been rapt into the uttermost quarters of the
earth, how should he escape the ruin that he carried ?
We have heard of living men who have been fettered
to the dead ; the grievance, soberly considered, is no
more than sentimental ; the case is but a flea-bite to
that of him who should be linked, like poor M'Guire,
to an explosive bomb.
A thought struck him in Green Street, like a dart
through his liver : suppose it were the hour already.
He stopped as though he had been shot, and plucked
his watch out. There was a howling in his ears, as
loud as a winter tempest ; his sight was now obscured
as if by a cloud, now, as by a lightning flash, would
175
THE DYNAMITER
show him the very dust upon the street. But so
brief were these intervals of vision, and so violently
did the watch vibrate in his hands, that it was im-
possible to distinguish the numbers on the dial. He
covered his eyes for a few seconds ; and in that
space, it seemed to him that he had fallen to be a
man of ninety. When he looked again, the watch-
plate had grown legible : he had twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes, and no plan !
Green Street, at that time, was very empty ; and
he now observed a little girl of about six drawing
near to him and, as she came, kicking in front of
her, as children will, a piece of wood. She sang, too ;
and something in her accent recalling him to the
past produced a sudden clearness in his mind. Here
was a God-sent opportunity !
' My dear,' said he, ' would you like a present of a
pretty bag ? '
The child cried aloud with joy and put out her
hands to take it. She had looked first at the bag,
like a true child ; but most unfortunately, before she
had yet received the fatal gift, her eyes fell directly
on M'Guire ; and no sooner had she seen the poor
gentleman's face than she screamed out and leaped
backward, as though she had seen the devil. Almost
at the same moment a woman appeared upon the
threshold of a neighbouring shop, and called upon
the child in anger. ' Come here, colleen,' she said,
' and don't be plaguing the poor old gentleman ! '
With that she re-entered the house, and the child
followed her, sobbing aloud.
176
ZERO'S TALE
With the loss of this hope M'Guire 's reason
swooned within him. When next he awoke to con-
sciousness, he was standing before St. Martin's-in-
the-Fields, wavering like a drunken man ; the
passers-by regarding him with eyes in which he
read, as in a glass, an image of the terror and horror
that dwelt within his own.
' I am afraid you are very ill, sir,' observed a
woman, stopping and gazing hard in his face. ' Can
I do anything to help you ? '
< 111 ? ' said M'Guire. ' O God ! ' And then, re-
covering some shadow of his self-command, 'Chronic,
madam,' said he : ' a long course of the dumb ague.
But since you are so compassionate — an errand that
I lack the strength to carry out,' he gasped — 'this
bag to Portman Square. O compassionate woman,
as you hope to be saved, as you are a mother, in the
name of your babes that wait to welcome you at
home, oh, take this bag to Portman Square ! I have
a mother, too,' he added, with a broken voice.
' Number 19 Portman Square.'
I suppose he had expressed himself with too much
energy of voice ; for the woman was plainly taken
with a certain fear of him. ' Poor gentleman ! '
said she. ' If I were you, I would go home.' And
she left him standing there in his distress.
* Home ! ' thought M'Guire, ' what a derision ! '
What home was there for him, the victim of philan-
thropy? He thought of his old mother, of his
happy youth ; of the hideous, rending pang of the
explosion ; of the possibility that he might not be
7 — m 177
THE DYNAMITER
killed, that he might be cruelly mangled, crippled
for life, condemned to lifelong pains, blinded perhaps,
and almost surely deafened. Ah, you spoke lightly
of the dynamiter's peril ; but even waiving death,
have you realised what it is for a fine, brave young
man of forty, to be smitten suddenly with deafness,
cut off from all the music of life, and from the voice
of friendship and love ? How little do we realise
the sufferings of others ! Even your brutal Govern-
ment, in the heyday of its lust for cruelty, though
it scruples not to hound the patriot with spies, to
pack the corrupt jury, to bribe the hangman, and to
erect the infamous gallows, would hesitate to inflict
so horrible a doom : not, I am well aware, from
virtue, not from philanthropy, but with the fear
before it of the withering scorn of the good.
But I wander from M'Guire. From this dread
glance into the past and future, his thoughts returned
at a bound upon the present. How had he wandered
there ? and how long — O heavens ! how long had he
been about it ? He pulled out his watch ; and found
that but three minutes had elapsed. It seemed too
bright a thing to be believed. He glanced at the
church clock ; and sure enough, it marked an hour
four minutes in advance of the watch.
Of all that he endured, M'Guire declares that
pang was the most desolate. Till then, he had had
one friend, one counsellor, in whom he plenarily
trusted ; by whose advertisement he numbered the
minutes that remained to him of life ; on whose sure
testimony he could tell when the time was come to
178
ZERO'S TALE
risk the last adventure, to cast the bag away from
him, and take to flight. And now in what was he
to place reliance? His watch was slow; it might
be losing time ; if so, in what degree ? What limit
could he set to its derangement? and how much
was it possible for a watch to lose in thirty minutes ?
Five ? ten ? fifteen ? It might be so ; already, it
seemed years since he had left St. James's Hall on
this so promising enterprise ; at any moment, then,
the blow was to be looked for.
In the face of this new distress, the wild disorder
of his pulses settled down ; and a broken weariness
succeeded, as though he had lived for centuries and
for centuries been dead. The buildings and the
people in the street became incredibly small, and
far-away, and bright; London sounded in his ears
stilly, like a whisper ; and the rattle of the cab that
nearly charged him down was like a sound from
Africa. Meanwhile, he was conscious of a strange
abstraction from himself; and heard and felt his
footfalls on the ground, as those of a very old,
small, debile, and tragically fortuned man, whom he
sincerely pitied.
As he was thus moving forward past the National
Gallery, in a medium, it seemed, of greater rarity
and quiet than ordinary air, there slipped into his
mind the recollection of a certain entry in Whitcomb
Street hard by, where he might perhaps lay down
his tragic cargo unremarked. Thither, then, he bent
his steps, seeming, as he went, to float above the
pavement ; and there, in the mouth of the entry, he
179
THE DYNAMITER
found a man in a sleeved waistcoat, gravely chewing
a straw. He passed him by, and twice patrolled
the entry, scouting for the barest chance ; but the
man had faced about and continued to observe him
curiously.
Another hope was gone. M'Guire re-issued from
the entry, still followed by the wondering eyes of the
man in the sleeved waistcoat. He once more con-
sulted his watch : there were but fourteen minutes
left to him. At that, it seemed as if a sudden,
genial heat were spread about his brain ; for a second
or two, he saw the world as red as blood ; and there-
after entered into a complete possession of himself,
with an incredible cheerfulness of spirits, prompting
him to sing and chuckle as he walked. And yet
this mirth seemed to belong to things external ; and
within, like a black and leaden-heavy kernel, he was
conscious of the weight upon his soul.
I care for nobody, no, not I,
And nobody cares for me,
he sang, and laughed at the appropriate burthen, so
that the passengers stared upon him on the street.
And still the warmth seemed to increase and to
become more genial. What was life ? he considered,
and what he, M'Guire ? What even Erin, our green
Erin ? All seemed so incalculably little that he
smiled as he looked down upon it. He would have
given years, had he possessed them, for a glass of
spirits ; but time failed, and he must deny himself
this last indulgence.
1 80
ZEROS TALE
At the corner of the Haymarket, he very jauntily
hailed a hansom cab ; jumped in ; bade the fellow
drive him to a part of the Embankment, which he
named ; and as soon as the vehicle was in motion,
concealed the bag as completely as he could under
the vantage of the apron, and once more drew out
his watch. So he rode for five interminable minutes,
his heart in his mouth at every jolt, scarce able to
possess his terrors, yet fearing to wake the attention
of the driver by too obvious a change of plan, and
willing, if possible, to leave him time to forget the
Gladstone bag.
At length, at the head of some stairs on the
Embankment, he hailed ; the cab was stopped ; and
he alighted — with how glad a heart ! He thrust his
hand into his pocket. All was now over; he had
saved his life ; nor that alone, but he had engineered
a striking act of dynamite ; for what could be more
pictorial, what more effective, than the explosion of
a hansom cab, as it sped rapidly along the streets of
London. He felt in one pocket ; then in another.
The most crushing seizure of despair descended on
his soul ; and, struck into abject dumbness, he stared
upon the driver. He had not one penny.
'Hillo,' said the driver, 'don't seem well.'
* Lost my money,' said M'Guire, in tones so faint
and strange that they surprised his hearing.
The man looked through the trap. 'I dessay,'
said he : ' you 've left your bag.'
M'Guire half unconsciously fetched it out ; and
looking on that black continent at arm's length,
181
THE DYNAMITER
withered inwardly and felt his features sharpen as
with mortal sickness.
' This is not mine,' said he. ' Your last fare must
have left it. You had better take it to the station.'
\ ' Now look here,' returned the cabman : ' are you
off your chump ? or am I ? '
' Well, then, I '11 tell you what,' exclaimed
M'Guire : ' you take it for your fare ! '
' Oh, I dessay,' replied the driver. ' Anything
else ? What 's in your bag ? Open it, and let me see. '
'No, no,' returned M'Guire. 'Oh no, not that.
It 's a surprise ; it 's prepared expressly : a surprise
for honest cabmen.'
' No, you don't,' said the man, alighting from his
perch, and coming very close to the unhappy patriot.
' You 're either going to pay my fare, or get in again
and drive to the office.'
It was at this supreme hour of his distress, that
M'Guire spied the stout figure of one Godall, a
tobacconist of Rupert Street, drawing near along the
Embankment. The man was not unknown to him ;
he had bought of his wares, and heard him quoted
for the soul of liberality ; and such was now the
nearness of his peril, that even at such a straw of
hope he clutched with gratitude.
' Thank God ! ' he cried. ' Here comes a friend of
mine. I '11 borrow.' And he dashed to meet the
tradesman. ' Sir,' said he, ' Mr. Godall, I have dealt
with you — you doubtless know my face — calamities
for which I cannot blame myself have overwhelmed
me. Oh, sir, for the love of innocence, for the sake
182
ZEROS TALE
of the bonds of humanity, and as you hope for
mercy at the throne of grace, lend me two-and-six ! '
' I do not recognise your face,' replied Mr. Godall ;
' but I remember the cut of your beard, which I have
the misfortune to dislike. Here, sir, is a sovereign ;
which I very willingly advance to you, on the single
condition that you shave your chin.'
M'Guire grasped the coin without a word ; cast
it to the cabman, calling out to him to keep the
change ; bounded down the steps, flung the bag far
forth into the river, and fell headlong after it. He
was plucked from a watery grave, it is believed, by
the hands of Mr. Godall. Even as he was being
hoisted dripping to the shore, a dull and choked
explosion shook the solid masonry of the Embank-
ment, and far out in the river a momentary fountain
rose and disappeared.
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (continued)
Somerset in vain strove to attach a meaning to
these words. He had, in the meanwhile, applied
himself assiduously to the flagon ; the plotter began
to melt in twain, and seemed to expand and* hover
on his seat; and with a vague sense of nightmare,
the young man rose unsteadily to his feet, and,
refusing the proffer of a third grog, insisted that the
hour was late and he must positively get to bed.
' Dear me,' observed Zero, ' I find you very tem-
perate. But I will not be oppressive. Suffice it
183
THE DYNAMITER
that we are now fast friends ; and, my dear landlord,
cm revoir ! '
So saying the plotter once more shook hands ; and
with the politest ceremonies, and some necessary
guidance, conducted the bewildered young gentle-
man to the top of the stair.
Precisely how he got to bed was a point on which
Somerset remained in utter darkness ; but the next
morning when, at a blow, he started broad awake,
there fell upon his mind a perfect hurricane of horror
and wonder. That he should have suffered himself
to be led into the semblance of intimacy with such a
man as his abominable lodger, appeared, in the cold
light of day, a mystery of human weakness. True,
he was caught in a situation that might have tested
the aplomb of Talleyrand. That was perhaps a pal-
liation ; but it was no excuse. For so wholesale a
capitulation of principle, for such a fall into criminal
familiarity, no excuse indeed was possible ; nor any
remedy, but to withdraw at once from the relation.
As soon as he was dressed, he hurried upstairs,
determined on a rupture. Zero hailed him with the
warmth of an old friend.
' Come in,' he cried, ' dear Mr. Somerset ! Come
in, sit down, and, without ceremony, join me at my
morning meal.'
' Sir,' said Somerset, ' you must permit me first to
disengage my honour. Last night, I was surprised
into a certain appearance of complicity ; but once for
all, let me inform you that I regard you and your
machinations with unmingled horror and disgust, and
184
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
I will leave no stone unturned to crush your vile
conspiracy.'
' My dear fellow,' replied Zero, with an air of some
complacency, ' I am well accustomed to these human
weaknesses. Disgust? I have felt it myself; it
speedily wears off. I think none the worse, I think
the more of you, for this engaging frankness. And
in the meanwhile, what are you to do ? You find
yourself, if I interpret rightly, in very much the same
situation as Charles the Second (possibly the least
degraded of your British sovereigns) when he was
taken into the confidence of the thief. To denounce
me is out of the question ; and what else can you
attempt ? No, dear Mr. Somerset, your hands are
tied ; and you find yourself condemned, under pain
of behaving like a cad, to be that same charming and
intellectual companion who delighted me last night.'
' At least,' cried Somerset, ' I can, and do, order
you to leave this house.'
* Ah ! ' cried the plotter, * but there I fail to follow
you. You may, if you please, enact the part of
Judas ; but if, as I suppose, you recoil from that
extremity of meanness, I am, on my side, far too
intelligent to leave these lodgings, in which I please
myself exceedingly, and from which you lack the
power to drive me. No, no, dear sir ; here I am, and
here I propose to stay.'
' I repeat,' cried Somerset, beside himself with a
sense of his own weakness, ' I repeat that I give you
warning. I am the master of this house ; and I
emphatically give you warning.'
185
THE DYNAMITER
' A week's warning ? ' said the imperturbable con-
spirator. ' Very well : we will talk of it a week from
now. That is arranged ; and in the meanwhile, I
observe my breakfast growing cold. Do, dear Mr.
Somerset, since you find yourself condemned, for a
week at least, to the society of a very interesting
character, display some of that open favour, some of
that interest in life's obscurer sides, which stamp the
character of the true artist. Hang me, if you will,
to-morrow ; but to-day show yourself divested of the
scruples of the burgess, and sit down pleasantly to
share my meal.'
' Man ! ' cried Somerset, ' do you understand my
sentiments ? '
' Certainly,' replied Zero ; ' and I respect them !
Would you be outdone in such a contest ? will you
alone be partial ? and in this nineteenth century,
cannot two gentlemen of education agree to differ on
a point of politics ? Come, sir : all your hard words
have left me smiling ; judge then, which of us is the
philosopher!'
Somerset was a young man of a very tolerant dis-
position and by nature easily amenable to sophistry.
He threw up his hands with a gesture of despair,
and took the seat to which the conspirator invited
him. The meal was excellent; the host not only
affable, but primed with curious information. He
seemed, indeed, like one who had too long endured
the torture of silence, to exult in the most wholesale
disclosures. The interest of what he had to tell was
great ; his character, besides, developed step by step ;
186
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
and Somerset, as the time fled, not only outgrew
some of the discomfort of his false position, but
began to regard the conspirator with a familiarity
that verged upon contempt. In any circumstances,
he had a singular inability to leave the society in
which he found himself; company, even if distaste-
ful, held him captive like a limed sparrow ; and on
this occasion, he suffered hour to follow hour, was
easily persuaded to sit down once more to table, and
did not even attempt to withdraw till, on the approach
of evening, Zero, with many apologies, dismissed his
guest. His fellow-conspirators, the dynamiter hand-
somely explained, as they were unacquainted with
the sterling qualities of the young man, would be
alarmed at the sight of a strange face.
As soon as he was alone, Somerset fell back upon
the humour of the morning. He raged at the thought
of his facility ; he paced the dining-room, forming
the sternest resolutions for the future ; he wrung the
hand which had been dishonoured by the touch of an
assassin ; and among all these whirling thoughts,
there flashed in from time to time, and ever with a
chill of fear, the thought of the confounded ingre-
dients with which the house was stored. A powder
magazine seemed a secure smoking-room alongside
of the Superfluous Mansion.
He sought refuge in flight, in locomotion, in the
flowing bowl. As long as the bars were open, he
travelled from one to another, seeking light, safety,
and the companionship of human faces ; when these
resources failed him, he fell back on the belated
187
THE DYNAMITER
baked-potato man ; and at length, still pacing the
streets, he was goaded to fraternise with the police.
Alas, with what a sense of guilt he conversed with
these guardians of the law ; how gladly had he wept
upon their ample bosoms ; and how the secret flut-
tered to his lips and was still denied an exit ! Fatigue
began at last to triumph over remorse; and about
the hour of the first milkman, he returned to the
door of the mansion ; looked at it with a horrid
expectation, as though it should have burst that in-
stant into flames ; drew out his key, and when his foot
already rested on the steps, once more lost heart and
fled for repose to the grisly shelter of a coffee-shop.
It was on the stroke of noon when he awoke.
Dismally searching in his pockets, he found himself
reduced to half-a-crown ; and, when he had paid the
price of his distasteful couch, saw himself obliged to
return to the Superfluous Mansion. He sneaked into
the hall and stole on tiptoe to the cupboard where
he kept his money. Yet half a minute, he told him-
self, and he would be free for days from his obseding
lodger, and might decide at leisure on the course
he should pursue. But fate had otherwise designed :
there came a tap at the door and Zero entered.
' Have I caught you ? ' he cried, with innocent
gaiety. * Dear fellow, I was growing quite impatient. '
And on the speaker's somewhat stolid face there
came a glow of genuine affection. ' I am so long-
unused to have a friend,' he continued, ' that I begin
to be afraid I may prove jealous.' And he wrung
the hand of his landlord.
1 88
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
Somerset was, of all men, least fit to deal with
such a greeting. To reject these kind advances was
beyond his strength. That he could not return cor-
diality for cordiality was already almost more than
he could carry. That inequality between kind sen-
timents which, to generous characters, will always
seem to be a sort of guilt, oppressed him to the
ground ; and he stammered vague and lying words.
' That is all right,' cried Zero — ' that is as it should
be — say no more ! I had a vague alarm ; I feared
you had deserted me ; but I now own that fear to
have been unworthy, and apologise. To doubt of
your forgiveness were to repeat my sin. Come, then ;
dinner waits ; join me again and tell me your adven-
tures of the night.'
Kindness still sealed the lips of Somerset ; and he
suffered himself once more to be set down to table
with his innocent and criminal acquaintance. Once
more the plotter plunged up to the neck in damag-
ing disclosures : now it would be the name and
biography of an individual, now the address of some
important centre, that rose, as if by accident, upon
his lips ; and each word was like another turn of the
thumbscrew to his unhappy guest. Finally, the
course of Zero's bland monologue led him to the
young lady of two days ago ; that young lady, who
had flashed on Somerset for so brief a while but
with so conquering a charm ; and whose engaging
grace, communicative eyes, and admirable conduct
of the sweeping skirt remained imprinted on his
memory.
189
THE DYNAMITER
* You saw her ? ' said Zero. ' Beautiful, is she not ?
She, too, is one of ours : a true enthusiast : nervous,
perhaps, in presence of the chemicals ; but in matters
of intrigue the very soul of skill and daring. Lake,
Fonblanque, de Marly, Valdevia, such are some of
the names that she employs ; her true name — but
there, perhaps, I go too far. Suffice it, that it is to
her I owe my present lodging and, dear Somerset,
the pleasure of your acquaintance. It appears she
knew the house. You see, dear fellow, I make no
concealment : all that you can care to hear, I tell
you openly.'
' For God's sake,' cried the wretched Somerset,
' hold your tongue ! You cannot imagine how you
torture me ! '
A shade of serious discomposure crossed the open
countenance of Zero.
' There are times,' he said, ' when I begin to fancy
that you do not like me. Why, why, dear Somer-
set, this lack of cordiality ? I am depressed ; the
touchstone of my life draws near ; and if I fail '
— he gloomily nodded — ' from all the height of my
ambitious schemes, I fall, dear boy, into contempt.
These are grave thoughts, and you may judge my
need of your delightful company. Innocent prattler,
you relieve the weight of my concerns. And yet
. . . and yet . . .' The speaker pushed away his
plate, and rose from table. 'Follow me,' said he,
'follow me. My mood is on; I must have air, I
must behold the plain of battle.'
So saying, he led the way hurriedly to the top flat
190
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
of the mansion, and thence, by ladder and trap, to a
certain leaded platform, sheltered at one end by a
great stalk of chimneys, and occupying the actual
summit of the roof. On both sides, it bordered,
without parapet or rail, on the incline of slates ; and,
northward above all, commanded an extensive view
of housetops and, rising through the smoke, the
distant spires of churches.
' Here,' cried Zero, ' you behold this field of city,
rich, crowded, laughing with the spoil of continents ;
but soon, how soon, to be laid low ! Some day,
some night, from this coign of vantage, you shall
perhaps be startled by the detonation of the judgment
gun — not sharp and empty like the crack of cannon,
but deep-mouthed and unctuously solemn. Instantly
thereafter, you shall behold the flames break forth.
Ay,' he cried, stretching forth his hand, 'ay, that
will be a day of retribution. Then shall the pallid
constable flee side by side with the detected thief.
Blaze ! ' he cried, ' blaze, derided city ! Fall, flatulent
monarchy, fall like Dagon ! '
With these words his foot slipped upon the lead ;
and but for Somerset's quickness, he had been
instantly precipitated into space. Pale as a sheet,
and limp as a pocket-handkerchief, he was dragged
from the edge of downfall by one arm ; helped, or
rather carried, down the ladder; and deposited in
safety on the attic landing. Here he began to come
to himself, wiped his brow, and at length, seizing
Somerset's hand in both of his, began to utter his
acknowledgments.
191
THE DYNAMITED
' This seals it,' said he. ' Ours is a life-and-death
connection. You have plucked me from the jaws
of death ; and if I were before attracted by your
character, judge now of the ardour of my gratitude
and love ! But I perceive I am still greatly shaken.
Lend me, I beseech you, lend me your arm as far as
my apartment.'
A dram of spirits restored the plotter to something
of his customary self-possession ; and he was stand-
ing, glass in hand and genially convalescent, when
his eye was attracted by the dejection of the unfor-
tunate young man.
' Good heavens, dear Somerset,' he cried, ' what
ails you ? Let me offer you a touch of spirits.'
But Somerset had fallen below the reach of this
material comfort.
' Let me be,' he said. ' I am lost ; you have
caught me in the toils. Up to this moment, I have
lived all my life in the most reckless manner, and
done exactly what I pleased, with the most perfect
innocence. And now — what am I ? Are you so
blind and wooden that you do not see the loathing
you inspire me with ? Is it possible you can sup-
pose me willing to continue to exist upon such
terms ? To think,' he cried, ' that a young man,
guilty of no fault on earth but amiability, should
find himself involved in such a damned imbroglio ! '
And, placing his knuckles in his eyes, Somerset rolled
upon the sofa.
' My God,' said Zero, ' is this possible ? And I so
filled with tenderness and interest ! Can it be, dear
192
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
Somerset, that you are under the empire of these
outworn scruples? or that you judge a patriot by
the morality of the religious tract ? I thought you
were a good agnostic'
' Mr. Jones,' said Somerset, ' it is in vain to argue.
I boast myself a total disbeliever not only in revealed
religion, but in the data, method, and conclusions of
the whole of ethics. Well ! what matters it ? what
signifies a form of words ? I regard you as a reptile,
whom I would rejoice, whom I long, to stamp under
my heel. You would blow up others ? Well then,
understand : I want, with every circumstance of
infamy and agony, to blow up you ! '
' Somerset, Somerset ! ' said Zero, turning very
pale, ' this is wrong ; this is very wrong. You pain,
you wound me, Somerset'
' Give me a match ! ' cried Somerset wildly. ' Let
me set fire to this incomparable monster ! Let me
perish with him in his fall ! '
' For God's sake,' cried Zero, clutching hold of the
young man, ' for God's sake command yourself ! We
stand upon the brink ; death yawns around us ; a
man — a stranger in this foreign land — one whom
you have called your friend '
' Silence,' cried Somerset, ' you are no friend, no
friend of mine. I look on you with loathing, like a
toad : my flesh creeps with physical repulsion ; my
soul revolts against the sight of you.'
Zero burst into tears. ' Alas ! ' he sobbed, ' this
snaps the last link that bound me to humanity. My
friend disowns — he insults me. I am indeed accurst'
7— n 193
THE DYNAMITER
Somerset stood for an instant staggered by this
sudden change of front. The next moment, with a
despairing gesture, he fled from the room and from
the house. The first dash of his escape carried him
hard upon half way to the next police-office ; but
presently began to droop ; and before he reached
the house of lawful intervention, he fell once more
among doubtful counsels. Was he an agnostic ? had
he a right to act ? Away with such nonsense, and
let Zero perish ! ran his thoughts. And then again :
had he not promised, had he not shaken hands and
broken bread ? and that with open eyes ? and if so,
how could he take action, and not forfeit honour?
But honour ? what was honour ? A figment, which,
in the hot pursuit of crime, he ought to dash aside.
Ay, but crime? A figment, too, which his enfran-
chised intellect discarded. All day, he wandered in
the parks, a prey to whirling thoughts ; all night,
patrolled the city ; and at the peep of day he sat
down by the wayside in the neighbourhood of Peck-
ham and bitterly wept. His gods had fallen. He
who had chosen the broad, daylit, unencumbered
paths of universal scepticism, found himself still the
bondslave of honour. He who had accepted life
from a point of view as lofty as the predatory eagle's,
though with no design to prey ; he who had clearly
recognised the common moral basis of war, of com-
mercial competition, and of crime ; he who was
prepared to help the escaping murderer or to embrace
the impenitent thief, found, to the overthrow of all
his logic, that he objected to the use of dynamite.
194
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
The dawn crept among the sleeping villas and over
the smokeless fields of city ; and still the unfortunate
sceptic sobbed over his fall from consistency.
At length he rose and took the rising sun to
witness. 'There is no question as to fact,' he cried;
' right and wrong are but figments and the shadow
of a word ; but for all that, there are certain things
that I cannot do, and there are certain others that I
will not stand.' Thereupon he decided to return, to
make one last effort of persuasion, and, if he could
not prevail on Zero to desist from his infernal trade,
throw delicacy to the winds, give the plotter an
hour's start, and denounce him to the police. Fast
as he went, being winged by this resolution, it was
already well on in the morning when he came in
sight of the Superfluous Mansion. Tripping down
the steps, was the young lady of the various aliases ;
and he w r as surprised to see upon her countenance
the marks of anger and concern.
' Madam,' he began, yielding to impulse and with
no clear knowledge of what he was to add.
But at the sound of his voice she seemed to
experience a shock of fear or horror ; started back ;
lowered her veil with a sudden movement ; and fled,
without turning, from the square.
Here then, we step aside a moment from following
the fortunes of Somerset, and proceed to relate the
strange and romantic episode of The Brown Box.
195
THE DYNAMITER
DESBOROUGH'S ADVENTURE :
THE BROWN BOX
Mr. Harry Desborough lodged in the fine and
grave old quarter of Bloom sbury, roared about on
every side by the high tides of London, but itself
rejoicing in romantic silences and city peace. It was
in Queen Square that he had pitched his tent, next
door to the Children's Hospital, on your left hand
as you go north : Queen Square, sacred to humane
and liberal arts, whence homes were made beautiful,
where the poor were taught, where the sparrows
were plentiful and loud, and where groups of patient
little ones would hover all day long before the hos-
pital, if by chance they might kiss their hand or
speak a word to their sick brother at the window.
Desborough 's room was on the first floor and fronted
to the square ; but he enjoyed besides, a right by
which he often profited, to sit and smoke upon a
terrace at the back, which looked down upon a fine
forest of back gardens, and was in turn commanded
by the windows of an empty room.
On the afternoon of a warm day, Desborough
sauntered forth upon this terrace, somewhat out of
196
THE BROWN BOX
hope and heart, for he had been now some weeks on
the vain quest of situations, and prepared for melan-
choly and tobacco. Here, at least, he told himself
that he would be alone ; for, like most youths who
are neither rich, nor witty, nor successful, he rather
shunned than courted the society of other men.
Even as he expressed the thought, his eye alighted
on the window of the room that looked upon the
terrace ; and, to his surprise and annoyance, he beheld
it curtained with a silken hanging. It was like his
luck, he thought ; his privacy was gone, he could no
longer brood and sigh unwatched, he could no longer
suffer his discouragement to find a vent in words or
soothe himself with sentimental whistling ; and in
the irritation of the moment, he struck his pipe upon
the rail with unnecessary force. It was an old, sweet,
seasoned briar-root, glossy and dark with long em-
ployment, and justly dear to his fancy. What,
then, was his chagrin, when the head snapped from
the stem, leaped airily in space, and fell and dis-
appeared among the lilacs of the garden ?
He threw himself savagely into the garden chair,
pulled out the story-paper which he had brought
with him to read, tore off a fragment of the last
sheet, which contains only the answers to corre-
spondents, and set himself to roll a cigarette. He
was no master of the art ; again and again, the paper
broke between his fingers and the tobacco showered
upon the ground ; and he was already on the point
of angry resignation, when the window swung slowly
inward, the silken curtain was thrust aside, and a
197
THE DYNAMITER
lady somewhat strangely attired stepped forth upon
the terrace.
' Senorito,' said she, and there was a rich thrill in
her voice, like an organ note, ' Sefiorito, you are in
difficulties. Suffer me to come to your assistance.'
With the words, she took the paper and tobacco
from his unresisting hands ; and with a facility that,
in Desborough's eyes, seemed magical, rolled and
presented him a cigarette. He took it, still seated,
still without a word ; staring with all his eyes upon
that apparition. Her face was warm and rich in
colour ; in shape, it was that piquant triangle, so
innocently sly, so saucily attractive, so rare in our
more northern climates ; her eyes were large, starry,
and visited by changing lights ; her hair was partly
covered by a lace mantilla, through which her arms,
bare to the shoulder, gleamed white ; her figure, full
and soft in all the womanly contours, was yet alive
and active, light with excess of life, and slender by
grace of some divine proportion.
' You do not like my cigarrito, Senor ? ' she asked.
' Yet it is better made than yours.' At that she
laughed, and her laughter trilled in his ear like
music ; but the next moment, her face fell. ' I see,'
she cried. - It is my manner that repels you. I am
too constrained, too cold. I am not,' she added,
with a more engaging air, ' I am not the simple
English maiden I appear.'
' Oh ! ' murmured Harry, filled with inexpressible
thoughts.
• In my own dear land,' she pursued, ' things are
198
THE BROWN BOX
differently ordered. There, I must own, a girl is
bound by* many and rigorous restrictions ; little is
permitted her ; she learns to be distant, she learns to
appear forbidding. But here, in free England — oh,
glorious liberty ! ' she cried, and threw up her arms
with a gesture of inimitable grace — ' here there are
no fetters ; here the woman may dare to be herself
entirely, and the men, the chivalrous men — is it not
written on the very shield of your nation, honi soit ?
Ah, it is hard for me to learn, hard for me to dare to
be myself. You must not judge me yet a while ; I
shall end by conquering this stiffness, I shall end by
growing English. Do I speak the language well ? '
' Perfectly — oh, perfectly ! ' said Harry, with a
fervency of conviction worthy of a graver subject.
' Ah, then/ she said, ' I shall soon learn ; English
blood ran in my father's veins ; and I have had the
advantage of some training in your expressive tongue.
If I speak already without accent, with my thorough
English appearance, there is nothing left to change
except my manners.'
' Oh no,' said Desborough. ' Oh, pray not ! I —
madam '
* I am,' interrupted the lady, 'the Sefiorita Teresa
Valdevia. The evening air grows chill. Adios,
Senorito.' And before Harry could stammer out a
word, she had disappeared into her room.
He stood transfixed, the cigarette still unlighted
in his hand. His thoughts had soared above tobacco,
and still recalled and beautified the image of his new
acquaintance. Her voice re-echoed in his memory ;
199
THE DYNAMITER
her eyes, of which he could not tell the colour,
haunted his soul. The clouds had risen at her
coming, and he beheld a new-created world. What
she was, he could not fancy, but he adored her.
Her age, he durst not estimate ; fearing to find her
older than himself, and thinking sacrilege to couple
that fair favour with the thought of mortal changes.
As for her character, beauty, to the young, is always
good. So the poor lad lingered late upon the ter-
race, stealing timid glances at the curtained window,
sighing to the gold laburnums, rapt into the country
of romance ; and when at length he entered and sat
down to dine, on cold boiled mutton and a pint of
ale, he feasted on the food of gods.
Next day when he returned to the terrace, the
window was a little ajar and he enjoyed a view of the
lady's shoulder, as she sat patiently sewing and all
unconscious of his presence. On the next, he had
scarce appeared when the window opened, and the
Senorita tripped forth into the sunlight, in a morning
disorder, delicately neat, and yet somehow foreign,
tropical, and strange. In one hand she held a packet.
'Will you try,' she said, 'some of my father's
tobacco— from dear Cuba ? There, as I suppose you
know, all smoke, ladies as well as gentlemen. So
you need not fear to annoy me. The fragrance will
remind me of home. My home, Seilor, was by the
sea.' And as she uttered these few words, Des-
borough, for the first time in his life, realised the
poetry of the great deep. ' Awake or asleep, I dream
of it ; dear home, dear Cuba ! '
200
THE BROWN BOX
' But some day,' said Desborough, with an inward
pang, ' some day you will return ? '
' Never ! ' she cried ; * ah, never, in Heaven's
name ! '
' Are you then resident for life in England ? ' he
inquired, with a strange lightening of spirit.
'You ask too much, for you ask more than I
know,' she answered sadly ; and then, resuming her
gaiety of manner : ' But you have not tried my
Cuban tobacco,' she said.
' Seiiorita,' said he, shyly abashed by some shadow
of coquetry in her manner, ' whatever comes to me
— you — I mean,' he concluded, deeply flushing, ' that
I have no doubt the tobacco is delightful.'
'Ah, Seilor,' she said, with almost mournful
gravity, ' you seemed so simple and good, and already
you are trying to pay compliments — and besides,'
she added, brightening, with a quick upward glance,
into a smile, ' you do it so badly ! English gentle-
men, I used to hear, could be fast friends, respectful,
honest friends ; could be companions, comforters, if
the need arose, or champions, and yet never encroach.
Do not seek to please me by copying the graces of
my countrymen. Be yourself: the frank, kindly,
honest English gentleman that I have heard of since
my childhood and still longed to meet. '
Harry, much bewildered, and far from clear as to
the manners of the Cuban gentleman, strenuously
disclaimed the thought of plagiarism.
' Your national seriousness of bearing best becomes
you, Senor,' said the lady. ' See ! ' marking a line
201
THE DYNAMITER
with her dainty, slippered foot, '. thus far it shall be
common ground ; there, at my window-sill, begins
the scientific frontier. If you choose, you may drive
me to my forts ; but if, on the other hand, we are to
be real English friends, I may join you here when I
am not too sad ; or, when I am yet more graciously
inclined, you may draw your chair beside the window
and teach me English customs, while I work. You
will find me an apt scholar, for my heart is in the
task.' She laid her hand lightly upon Harry's arm,
and looked into his eyes. ' Do you know,' said she,
'I am emboldened to believe that I have already
caught something of your English aplomb ? Do you
not perceive a change, Senor ? Slight, perhaps, but
still a change ? Is my deportment not more open,
more free, more like that of the dear " British Miss,"
than when you saw me first ? ' She gave a radiant
smile ; withdrew her hand from Harry's arm ; and
before the young man could formulate in words the
eloquent emotions that ran riot through his brain —
with an 'Adios, Senor: good-night, my English
friend,' she vanished from his sight behind the
curtain.
The next day, Harry consumed an ounce of tobacco
in vain upon the neutral terrace ; neither sight nor
sound rewarded him, and the dinner-hour summoned
him at length from the scene of disappointment. On
the next, it rained ; but nothing, neither business
nor weather, neither prospective poverty nor present
hardship, could now divert the young man from the
service of his lady ; and wrapt in a long ulster, with
202
THE BROWN BOX
the collar raised, he took his stand against the balus-
trade, awaiting fortune, the picture of damp and
discomfort to the eye, but glowing inwardly with
tender and delightful ardours. Presently the window
opened ; and the fair Cuban, with a smile imperfectly
dissembled, appeared upon the sill.
'Come here,' she said, 'here, beside my window.
The small verandah gives a belt of shelter.' And
she graciously handed him a folding-chair.
As he sat down, visibly aglow with shyness and
delight, a certain bulkiness in his pocket reminded
him that he was not come empty-handed.
" I have taken the liberty,' said he, ' of bringing
you a little book. I thought of you, when I observed
it on the stall, because I saw it was in Spanish. The
man assured me it was by one of the best authors,
and quite proper.' As he spoke, he placed the little
volume in her hand. Her eyes fell as she turned the
pages, and a flush rose and died again upon her
cheeks, as deep as it was fleeting. ' You are angry,'
he cried in agony. ' I have presumed.'
' No, Senor, it is not that,' returned the lady. ' I '
— and a flood of colour once more mounted to her
brow — ' I am confused and ashamed because I have
deceived you. Spanish,' she began, and paused —
' Spanish is of course my native tongue,' she resumed,
as though suddenly taking courage ; ' and this should
certainly put the highest value on your thoughtful
present ; but alas, sir, of what use is it to me ? And
how shall I confess to you the truth — the humiliating
truth — that I cannot read ? '
203
THE DYNAMITER
As Harry's eyes met hers in undisguised amaze-
ment, the fair Cuban seemed to shrink before his
gaze. * Read ? ' repeated Harry. ' You ! '
She pushed the window still more widely open
with a large and noble gesture. ' Enter, Senor,' said
she. 'The time has come to which I have long
looked forward, not without alarm; when I must
either fear to lose your friendship, or tell you without
disguise the story of my life.'
It was with a sentiment bordering on devotion
that Harry passed the window. A semi-barbarous
delight in form and colour had presided over the
studied disorder of the room in which he found him-
self. It was filled with dainty stuffs, furs and rugs
and scarves of brilliant hues, and set with elegant
and curious trifles — fans on the mantelshelf, an
antique lamp upon a bracket, and on the table a
silver-mounted bowl of cocoa-nut about half full of
unset jewels. The fair Cuban, herself a gem of
colour and the fit masterpiece for that rich frame,
motioned Harry to a seat, and, sinking herself into
another, thus began her history.
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
I am not what I seem. My father drew his descent,
on the one hand, from grandees of Spain, and on the
other, through the maternal line, from the patriot
Bruce. My mother, too, was the descendant of a
line of kings ; but, alas ! these kings were African.
204
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
She was fair as the day : fairer than I, for I in-
herited a darker strain of blood from the veins of my
European father ; her mind was noble, her manners
queenly and accomplished; and, seeing her more than
the equal of her neighbours and surrounded by the
most considerate affection and respect, I grew up to
adore her, and when the time came, received her last
sigh upon my lips, still ignorant that she was a slave
and alas ! my father's mistress. Her death, which
befell me in my sixteenth year, was the first sorrow
I had known : it left our home bereaved of its attrac-
tions, cast a shade of melancholy on my youth, and
wrought in my father a tragic and durable change.
Months went by : with the elasticity of my years, I
regained some of the simple mirth that had before
distinguished me ; the plantation smiled with fresh
crops ; the negroes on the estate had already for-
gotten my mother and transferred their simple obedi-
ence to myself; but still the cloud only darkened
on the brows of Senor Valdevia. His absences from
home had been frequent even in the old days, for he
did business in precious gems in the city of Havana ;
they now became almost continuous ; and when he
returned, it was but for the night and with the
manner of a man crushed down by adverse fortune.
The place where I was born and passed my days
was an isle set in the Caribbean Sea, some half-
hour's rowing from the coasts of Cuba. It was
steep, rugged, and, except for my father's family
and plantation, uninhabited and left to nature. The
house, a low building surrounded by spacious veran-
205
THE DYNAMITER
dahs, stood upon a rise of ground and looked across
the sea to Cuba, the breezes blew about it gratefully,
fanned us as we lay swinging in our silken ham-
mocks, and tossed the boughs and flowers of the
magnolia. Behind and to the left, the quarter of
the negroes and the waving fields of the plantation
covered an eighth part of the surface of the isle.
On the right and closely bordering on the garden,
lay a vast and deadly swamp, densely covered with
wood, breathing fever, dotted with profound sloughs,
and inhabited by poisonous oysters, man-eating crabs,
snakes, alligators, and sickly fishes. Into the re-
cesses of that jungle none could penetrate but those
of African descent ; an invisible, unconquerable foe
lay there in wait for the European ; and the air was
death.
One morning (from which I must date the be-
ginning of my ruinous misfortune) I left my room a
little after day, for in that warm climate all are early
risers, and found not a servant to attend upon my
wants. I made the circuit of the house, still calling :
and my surprise had almost changed into alarm,
when, coming at last into a large verandahed court,
I found it thronged with negroes. Even then, even
when I was amongst them, not one turned or paid
the least regard to my arrival. They had eyes and
ears for but one person : a woman, richly and taste-
fully attired ; of elegant carriage, and a musical
speech ; not so much old in years, as worn and
marred by self-indulgence ; her face, which was still
attractive, stamped with the most cruel passions, her
206
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
eye burning with the greed of evil. It was not from
her appearance, I believe, but from some emanation
of her soul, that I recoiled in a kind of fainting
terror ; as we hear of plants that blight and snakes
that fascinate, the woman shocked and daunted me.
But I was of a brave nature ; trod the weakness
down ; and forcing my way through the slaves, who
fell back before me in embarrassment, as though in
the presence of rival mistresses, I asked, in imperious
tones : ' Who is this person ? '
A slave girl, to whom I had been kind, whispered
in my ear to have a care, for that was Madam
Mendizabal ; but the name was new to me.
In the meanwhile the woman, applying a pair of
glasses to her eyes, studied me with insolent particu-
larity from head to foot.
'Young woman,' said she at last, 'I have had a
great experience in refractory servants, and take a
pride in breaking them. You really tempt me ; and
if I had not other affairs, and these of more import-
ance, on my hand, I should certainly buy you at
your father's sale.'
' Madam ' I began, but my voice failed me.
'Is it possible that you do not know your posi-
tion ? ' she returned, with a hateful laugh. ' How
comical ! Positively, I must buy her. Accom-
plishments, I suppose?' she added, turning to the
servants.
Several assured her that the young mistress had
been brought up like any lady, for so it seemed in
their inexperience.
207
THE DYNAMITER
' She would do very well for my place of business
in Havana,' said the Senora Mendizabal, once more
studying me through her glasses ; ' and I should take
a pleasure,' she pursued, more directly addressing
myself, 'in bringing you acquainted with a whip.'
And she smiled at me with a savoury lust of cruelty
upon her face.
At this, I found expression. Calling by name
upon the servants, I bade them turn this woman
from the house, fetch her to the boat, and set her
back upon the mainland. But with one voice they
protested that they durst not obey, coming close
about me, pleading and beseeching me to be more
wise; and when I insisted, rising higher in passion
and speaking of this foul intruder in the terms she
had deserved, they fell back from me as from one who
had blasphemed. A superstitious reverence plainly
encircled the stranger; I could read it in their
changed demeanour, and in the paleness that pre-
vailed upon the natural colour of their faces; and
their fear perhaps reacted on myself. I looked again
at Madam Mendizabal. She stood perfectly com-
posed, watching my face through her glasses with a
smile of scorn ; and at the sight of her assured
superiority to all my threats, a cry broke from my
lips, a cry of rage, fear, and despair, and I fled from
the verandah and the house.
I ran I knew not where, but it was towards the
beach. As I went, my head whirled ; so strange, so
sudden, were these events and insults. Who was
she ? what, in Heaven's name, the power she wielded
208
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
over my obedient negroes ? Why had she addressed
me as a slave ? why spoken of my father's sale ?
To all these tumultuary questions I could find no
answer; and, in the turmoil of my mind, nothing
was plain except the hateful, leering image of the
woman.
I was still running, mad with fear and anger,
when I saw my father coming to meet me from the
landing-place ; and, with a cry that I thought would
have killed me, leaped into his arms and broke into
a passion of sobs and tears upon his bosom. He
made me sit down below a tall palmetto that grew
not far off; comforted me, but with some abstraction
in his voice; and, as soon as I regained the least
command upon my feelings, asked me, not without
harshness, what this grief betokened. I was sur-
prised by his tone into a still greater measure of
composure; and in firm tones, though still inter-
rupted by sobs, I told him there was a stranger in
the island, at which I thought he started and turned
pale ; that the servants would not obey me ; that
the stranger's name was Madam Mendizabal, and, at
that, he seemed to me both troubled and relieved ;
that she had insulted me, treated me as a slave (and
here my father's brow began to darken), threatened
to buy me at a sale, and questioned my own servants
before my face ; and that, at last, finding myself
quite helpless and exposed to these intolerable
liberties, I had fled from the house in terror, indigna-
tion, and amazement.
' Teresa,' said my father, with singular gravity of
7 — o 209
THE DYNAMITER
voice, 'I must make to-day a call upon your courage ;
much must be told you, there is much that you must
do to help me ; and my daughter must prove herself
a woman by her spirit. As for this Mendizabal,
what shall I say ? or how am I to tell you what she
is ? Twenty years ago, she was the loveliest of
slaves ; to-day she is what you see her — prematurely
old, disgraced by the practice of every vice and
every nefarious industry, but free, rich, married, they
say, to some reputable man, whom may Heaven
assist ! and exercising among her ancient mates, the
slaves of Cuba, an influence as unbounded as its
reason is mysterious. Horrible rites, it is supposed,
cement her empire : the rites of Hoodoo. Be that
as it may, I would have you dismiss the thought of
this incomparable witch ; it is not from her that
danger threatens us ; and into her hands, I make
bold to promise, you shall never fall.'
* Father ! ' I cried. * Fall ? Was there any truth,
then, in her words ? Am I — O father, tell me
plain ; I can bear anything but this suspense.'
* I will tell you,' he replied, ' with merciful blunt-
ness. Your mother was a slave ; it was my design,
so soon as I had saved a competence, to sail to the
free land of Britain, where the law would suffer me
to marry her : a design too long procrastinated ; for
death, at the last moment, intervened. You will
now understand the heaviness with which your
mother's memory hangs about my neck.'
I cried out aloud, in pity for my parents ; and, in
seeking to console the survivor, I forgot myself.
210
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
'It matters not,' resumed my father. 'What I
have left undone can never be repaired, and I must
bear the penalty of my remorse. But, Teresa, with
so cutting a reminder of the evils of delay, I set
myself at once to do what was still possible : to
liberate yourself.'
I began to break forth in thanks, but he checked
me with a sombre roughness.
'Your mother's illness,' he resumed, 'had engaged
too great a portion of my time ; my business in the
city had lain too long at the mercy of ignorant
underlings ; my head, my taste, my unequalled
knowledge of the more precious stones, that art by
which I can distinguish, even on the darkest night,
a sapphire from a ruby and tell at a glance in what
quarter of the earth a gem was disinterred — all these
had been too long absent from the conduct of affairs.
Teresa, I was insolvent.'
' What matters that ? ' I cried, ' What matters
poverty, if we be left together with our love and
sacred memories ? '
'You do not comprehend,' he said gloomily.
' Slave as you are, young — alas ! scarce more than
child ! — accomplished, beautiful with the most touch-
ing beauty, innocent as an angel — all these qualities
that should disarm the very wolves and crocodiles,
are, in the eyes of those to whom I stand indebted,
commodities to buy and sell. . You are a chattel ;
a marketable thing; and worth — heavens, that I
should say such words ! — worth money. Do you
begin to see? If I were to give you freedom, I
211
THE DYNAMITER
should defraud my creditors ; the manumission
would be certainly annulled ; you would be still a
slave, and I a criminal.'
I caught his hand in mine, kissed it, and moaned
in pity for myself, in sympathy for my father.
' How I have toiled,' he continued, * how I have
dared and striven to repair my losses, Heaven has
beheld and will remember. Its blessing was denied
to my endeavours, or, as I please myself by think-
ing, but delayed to descend upon my daughter's
head. At length, all hope was at an end ; I was
ruined beyond retrieve ; a heavy debt fell due upon
the morrow, which I could not meet; I should be
declared a bankrupt, and my goods, my lands, my
jewels that I so much loved, my slaves whom I
have spoiled and rendered happy, and oh ! tenfold
worse, you, my beloved daughter, would be sold
and pass into the hands of ignorant and greedy
traffickers. Too long, I saw, had 1 accepted and
profited by this great crime of slavery ; but was my
daughter, my innocent, unsullied daughter, was she
to pay the price ? I cried out — no ! — I took Heaven
to witness my temptation ; I caught up this bag
and fled. Close upon my track are the pursuers ;
perhaps to-night, perhaps to-morrow, they will land
upon this isle, sacred to the memory of the dear
soul that bore you, to consign your father to an
ignominious prison, and yourself to slavery and dis-
honour. We have not many hours before us. Off
the north coast of our isle, by strange good fortune,
an English yacht has for some days been hovering.
212
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
It belongs to Sir George Greville, whom I slightly
know, to whom ere now I have rendered un-
usual services, and who will not refuse to help in
our escape. Or if he did, if his gratitude were in
default, I have the power to force him. For what
does it mean, my child — what means this English-
man, who hangs for years upon the shores of Cuba,
and returns from every trip with new and valuable
gems ? '
' He may have found a mine,' I hazarded.
* So he declares,' returned my father ; ' but the
strange gift I have received from nature easily
transpierced the fable. He brought me diamonds
only, which I bought, at first, in innocence ; at a
second glance, I started ; for of these stones, my
child, some had first seen the day in Africa, some
in Brazil ; while others, from their peculiar water
and rude workmanship, I divined to be the spoil of
ancient temples. Thus put upon the scent, I made
inquiries : Oh, he is cunning, but I was cunninger
than he. He visited, I found, the shop of every
jeweller in town ; to one he came with rubies, to
one with emeralds, to one with precious beryl ; to all,
with this same story of the mine. But in what
mine, what rich epitome of the earth's surface, were
there conjoined the rubies of Ispahan, the pearls of
Coromandel, and the diamonds of Golconda ? No,
child, that man, for all his yacht and title, that man
must fear and must obey me. To-night, then, as
soon as it is dark, we must take our way through
the swamp by the path which I shall presently show
213
THE DYNAMITER
you ; thence, across the highlands of the isle, a track
is blazed, which shall conduct us to the haven on
the north ; and close by the yacht is riding. Should
my pursuers come before the hour at which I look
to see them, they will still arrive too late ; a trusty
man attends on the mainland ; as soon as they
appear, we shall behold, if it be dark, the redness
of a fire — if it be day, a pillar of smoke, on the oppos-
ing headland ; and thus warned, we shall have time
to put the swamp between ourselves and danger.
Meantime, I would conceal this bag; I would,
before all things, be seen to arrive at the house with
empty hands ; a blabbing slave might else undo us.
For see ! ' he added ; and holding up the bag, which
he had already shown me, he poured into my lap a
shower of unmounted jewels, brighter than flowers,
of every size and colour, and catching, as they fell,
upon a million dainty facets, the ardour of the sun.
I could not restrain a cry of admiration.
i Even in your ignorant eyes,' pursued my father,
* they command respect. Yet what are they but
pebbles, passive to the tool, cold as death? In-
grate ! ' he cried. ' Each one of these — miracles of
nature's patience, conceived out of the dust in
centuries of microscopical activity, each one is, for
you and me, a year of life, liberty, and mutual
affection. How, then, should I cherish them ! and
why do I delay to place them beyond reach ! Teresa,
follow me.'
He rose to his feet, and led me to the borders of
the great jungle, where they overhung, in a wall of
214
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
poisonous and dusky foliage, the declivity of the
hill on which my father's house stood planted. For
some while he skirted, with attentive eyes, the
margin of the thicket. Then, seeming to recognise
some mark, for his countenance became immedi-
ately lightened of a load of thought, he paused and
addressed me. * Here,' said he, ' is the entrance of
the secret path that I have mentioned, and here
you shall await me. I but pass some hundreds of
yards into the swamp to bury my poor treasure ;
as soon as that is safe, I will return.' It was in vain
that I sought to dissuade him, urging the dangers
of the place ; in vain that I begged to be allowed
to follow, pleading the black blood that I now knew
to circulate in my veins : to all my appeals he
turned a deaf ear, and, bending back a portion of
the screen of bushes, disappeared into the pestilential
silence of the swamp.
At the end of a full hour, the bushes were once
more thrust aside ; and my father stepped from out
the thicket, and paused, and almost staggered in
the first shock of the blinding sunlight. His face
was of a singular dusky red ; and yet, for all the
heat of the tropical noon, he did not seem to sweat.
'You are tired,' I cried, springing to meet him.
1 You are ill.'
4 1 am tired,' he replied ; ' the air in that jungle
stifles one ; my eyes, besides, have grown accustomed
to its gloom, and the strong sunshine pierces them
like knives. A moment, Teresa, give me but a
moment. All shall yet be well. I have buried the
215
THE DYNAMITER
hoard under a cypress, immediately beyond the
bayou, on the left-hand margin of the path ; beauti-
ful, bright things, they now lie whelmed in slime ;
you shall find them there, if needful. But come,
let us to the house ; it is time to eat against our
journey of the night : to eat and then to sleep, my
poor Teresa : then to sleep.' And he looked upon
me out of bloodshot eyes, shaking his head as if
in pity.
We went hurriedly, for he kept murmuring that
he had been gone too long and that the servants
might suspect ; passed through the airy stretch of
the verandah ; and came at length into the grateful
twilight of the shuttered house. The meal was
spread ; the house servants, already informed by the
boatmen of the master's return, were all back at
their posts, and terrified, as I could see, to face me.
My father still murmuring of haste with weary and
feverish pertinacity, I hurried at once to take my
place at table ; but I had no sooner left his arm
than he paused and thrust forth both his hands with
a strange gesture of groping. ' How is this ? ' he
cried, in a sharp, unhuman voice. ' Am I blind ? '
I ran to him and tried to lead him to the table ;
but he resisted and stood stiffly where he was,
opening and shutting his jaws, as if in a painful
effort after breath. Then suddenly he raised both
hands to his temples, cried out, 'My head, my
head ! ' and reeled and fell against the wall.
I knew too well what it must be. I turned and
begged the servants to relieve him. But they, with
216
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
one accord, denied the possibility of hope; the
master had gone into the swamp, they said, the
master must die ; all help was idle. Why should I
dwell upon his sufferings ? I had him carried to a
bed, and watched beside him. He lay still, and at
times ground his teeth, and talked at times un-
intelligibly, only that one word of hurry, hurry,
coming distinctly to my ears, and telling me that,
even in the last struggle with the powers of death,
his mind was still tortured by his daughter's peril.
The sun had gone down, the darkness had fallen,
when I perceived that I was alone on this unhappy
earth. What thought had I of flight, of safety, of
the impending dangers of my situation ? Beside the
body of my last friend, I had forgotten all except
the natural pangs of my bereavement.
The sun was some four hours above the eastern
line when I was recalled to a knowledge of the
things of earth by the entrance of the slave-girl to
whom I have already referred. The poor soul was
indeed devotedly attached to me ; and it was with
streaming tears that she broke to me the import of
her coming. With the first light of dawn a boat
had reached our landing-place, and set on shore
upon our isle (till now so fortunate) a party of
officers bearing a warrant to arrest my father's
person, and a man of a gross body and low manners,
who declared the island, the plantation, and all its
human chattels, to be now his own. <I think,' said
my slave-girl, ' he must be a politician or some very
powerful sorcerer; for Madam Mendizabal had no
217
THE DYNAMITER
sooner seen them coming than she took to the
woods.'
' Fool,' said I, ' it was the officers she feared ; and
at any rate why does that beldam still dare to
pollute the island with her presence? And oh,
Cora,' I exclaimed, remembering my grief, * what
matter all these troubles to an orphan ? '
* Mistress,' said she, * I must remind you of two
things. Never speak as you do now of Madam
Mendizabal ; or never to a person of colour ; for
she is the most powerful woman in this world, and
her real name even, if one durst pronounce it, were
a spell to raise the dead. And whatever you do,
speak no more of her to your unhappy Cora ; for
though it is possible she may be afraid of the police
(and indeed I think that I have heard she is in
hiding), and though I know that you will laugh
and not believe; yet it is true, and proved, and
known that she hears every word that people utter
in this whole, vast world ; and your poor Cora is
already deep enough in her black books. She looks
at me, mistress, till my blood turns ice. That is
the first I had to say ; and now for the second :
do, pray, for Heaven's sake, bear in mind that you
are no longer the poor Senor's daughter. He is
gone, dear gentleman ; and now you are no more
than a common slave-girl like myself. The man
to whom you belong calls for you ; oh, my dear
mistress, go at once ! With your youth and beauty,
you may still, if you are winning and obedient,
secure yourself an easy life.'
218
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
For a moment I looked on the creature with the
indignation you may conceive ; the next, it was
gone : she did but speak after her kind, as the bird
sings or cattle bellow. ' Go,' said I. ' Go, Cora.
I thank you for your kind intentions. Leave me
alone one moment with my dead father; and tell
this man that I will come at once.'
She went ; and I, turning to the bed of death,
addressed to those deaf ears the last appeal and
defence of my beleaguered innocence. 'Father,' I
said, 'it was your last thought, even in the pangs
of dissolution, that your daughter should escape
disgrace. Here, at your side, I swear to you that
purpose shall be carried out; by what means, I
know not ; by crime, if need be ; and Heaven for-
give both you and me and our oppressors, and
Heaven help my helplessness!' Thereupon I felt
strengthened as by long repose ; stepped to the
mirror, ay, even in that chamber of the dead ; hastily
arranged my hair, refreshed my tear- worn eyes,
breathed a dumb farewell to the originator of my
days and sorrows ; and, composing my features to a
smile, went forth to meet my master.
He was in a great, hot bustle, reviewing that
house, once ours, to which he had but now suc-
ceeded; a corpulent, sanguine man of middle age,
sensual, vulgar, humorous, and, if I judged rightly,
not ill-disposed by nature. But the sparkle that
came into his eye as he observed me enter warned
me to expect the worst.
' Is this your late mistress ? ' he inquired of the
219
THE DYNAMITER
slaves ; and, when he had learnt it was so, instantly
dismissed them. ' Now, my dear,' said he, ' I am a
plain man : none of your damned Spaniards, but a
true blue, hardworking, honest Englishman. My
name is Caulder.'
* Thank you, sir,' said I, and curtsied very smartly
as I had seen the servants.
' Come,' said he, * this is better than I had ex-
pected ; and if you choose to be dutiful in the
station to which it has pleased God to call you, you
will find me a very kind old fellow. I like your
looks,' he added, calling me by my name, which he
scandalously mispronounced. ' Is your hair all your
own?' he then inquired, with a certain sharpness,
and coming up to me, as though I were a horse, he
grossly satisfied his doubts. I was all one flame from
head to foot, but I contained my righteous anger
and submitted. ' That is very well,' he continued,
chucking me good-humouredly under the chin. ' You
will have no cause to regret coming to old Caulder,
eh ? But that is by the way. What is more to the
point is this : your late master was a most dishonest
rogue and levanted with some valuable property
that belonged of rights to me. Now, considering
your relation to him, I regard you as the likeliest
person to know what has become of it ; and I warn
you, before you answer, that my whole future kind-
ness will depend upon your honesty. I am an honest
man myself, and expect the same in my servants.'
' Do you mean the jewels ? ' said I, sinking my
voice into a whisper.
220
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
' That is just precisely what I do,' said he, and
chuckled.
< Hush ! ' said I.
' Hush ? ' he repeated. 4 And why hush ? I am
on my own place, I would have you to know, and
surrounded by my own lawful servants.'
* Are the officers gone ? ' I asked ; and oh ! how
my hopes hung upon the answer !
* They are,' said he, looking somewhat discon-
certed. ' Why do you ask ? '
' I wish you had kept them,' I answered, solemnly
enough, although my heart at that same moment
leaped with exultation. 'Master, I must not con-
ceal from you the truth. The servants on this
estate are in a dangerous condition, and mutiny has
long been brewing.'
' Why,' he cried, ' I never saw a milder-looking
lot of niggers in my life." But for all that he
turned somewhat pale.
' Did they tell you,' I continued, '■ that Madam
Mendizabal is on the island ? that, since her coming,
they obey none but her ? that if, this morning, they
have received you with even decent civility, it was
only by her orders — issued with what after-thought
I leave you to consider ? '
* Madam Jezebel ? ' said he. ' Well, she is a
dangerous devil ; the police are after her, besides,
for a whole series of murders ; but after all, what
then ? To be sure, she has a great influence with
you coloured folk. But what in fortune's name can
be her errand here ? '
221
THE DYNAMITER
* The jewels,' I replied. ' Ah, sir, had you seen
that treasure, sapphire and emerald and opal, and
the golden topaz, and rubies, red as the sunset — of
what incalculable worth, of what unequalled beauty
to the eye ! — had you seen it, as I have, and alas !
as she has — you would understand and tremble at
your danger.'
' She has seen them ! ' he cried, and I could see
by his face that my audacity was justified by its
success.
I caught his hand in mine. ''My master,' said I,
* I am now yours ; it is my duty, it should be my
pleasure, to defend your interests and life. Hear
my advice, then ; and, I conjure you, be guided by
my prudence. Follow me privily ; let none see
where we are going ; I will lead you to the place
where the treasure has been buried ; that once dis-
interred, let us make straight for the boat, escape to
the mainland, and not return to this dangerous isle
without the countenance of soldiers.'
What free man in a free land would have credited
so sudden a devotion ? But this oppressor, through
the very arts and sophistries he had abused, to quiet
the rebellion of his conscience and to convince him-
self that slavery was natural, fell like a child into
the trap I laid for him. He praised and thanked
me ; told me I had all the qualities he valued in a
servant ; and when he had questioned me further as
to the nature and value of the treasure, and I had
once more artfully inflamed his greed, bade me, with-
out delay, proceed to carry out my plan of action.
222
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
From a shed in the garden I took a pick and
shovel; and thence, by devious paths among the
magnolias, led my master to the entrance of the
swamp. I walked first, carrying, as I was now in
duty bound, the tools, and glancing continually
behind me, lest we should be spied upon and fol-
lowed. When we were come as far as the beginning
of the path, it flashed into my mind I had forgotten
meat; and leaving Mr. Caulder in the shadow of
a tree, I returned alone to the house for a basket of
provisions. Were they for him ? I asked myself.
And a voice within me answered, No. While we
were <face to face, while I still saw before my eyes
the man to whom I belonged as the hand belongs to
the body, my indignation held me bravely up. But
now that I was alone, I conceived a sickness at
myself and my designs that I could scarce endure ;
I longed to throw myself at his feet, avow my
intended treachery, and warn him from that pesti-
lential swamp, to which I was decoying him to die ;
but my vow to my dead father, my duty to my
innocent youth, prevailed upon these scruples ; and
though my face was pale and must have reflected
the horror that oppressed my spirits, it was with a
firm step that I returned to the borders of the
swamp, and with smiling lips that I bade him rise
and follow me.
The path on which we now entered was cut, like a
tunnel, through the living jungle. On either hand
and overhead, the mass of foliage was continuously
joined ; the day sparingly filtered through the depth
223
THE DYNAMITER
of superim pending wood ; and the air was hot like
steam, and heady with vegetable odours, and lay
like a load upon the lungs and brain. Underfoot, a
great depth of mould received our silent footprints ;
on each side, mimosas, as tall as a man, shrank from
my passing skirts with a continuous hissing rustle;
and, but for these sentient vegetables, all in that den
of pestilence was motionless and noiseless.
We had gone but a little way in, when Mr. Caulder
was seized with sudden nausea, and must sit down
a moment on the path. My heart yearned, as I
beheld him ; and I seriously begged the doomed
mortal to return upon his steps. What were a few
jewels in the scales with life ? I asked. But no, he
said; that witch Madam Jezebel would find them
out ; he was an honest man, and would not stand to
be defrauded, and so forth, panting the while, like a
sick dog. Presently he got to his feet again, pro-
testing he had conquered his uneasiness ; but as we
again began to go forward, I saw in his changed
countenance the first approaches of death.
' Master,' said I, ' you look pale, deathly pale ; your
pallor fills me with dread. Your eyes are blood-
shot ; they are red like the rubies that we seek.'
' Wench,' he cried, ' look before you ; look at your
steps. I declare to Heaven, if you annoy me once
again by looking back, I shall remind you of the
change in your position. '
A little after, I observed a worm upon the ground,
and told, in a whisper, that its touch was death.
Presently a great green serpent, vivid as the grass
224
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
in spring, wound rapidly across the path ; and once
again I paused and looked back at my companion
with a horror in my eyes. ' The coffin snake,' said I,
'the snake that dogs its victim like a hound.'
But he was not to be dissuaded. ' I am an old
traveller,' said he. ''This is a foul jungle indeed;
but we shall soon be at an end.'
' Ay,' said I, looking at him with a strange smile,
' what end ? '
Thereupon he laughed again and again, but not
very heartily; and then, perceiving that the path
began to widen and grow higher, ' There ! ' said he.
' What did I tell you ? We are past the worst. '
Indeed, we had now come to the bayou, which
was in that place very narrow and bridged across
by a fallen trunk ; but on either hand we could see
it broaden out, under a cavern of great arms of trees
and hanging creepers : sluggish, putrid, of a horrible
and sickly stench, floated on by the flat heads of
alligators, and its banks alive with scarlet crabs.
' If we fall from that unsteady bridge,' said I, ' see,
where the caiman lies ready to devour us ! If, by
the least divergence from the path, we should be
snared in a morass, see, where those myriads of scarlet
vermin scour the border of the thicket ! Once help-
less, how they would swarm together to the assault !
What could man do against a thousand of such
mailed assailants ? And what a death were that, to
perish alive under their claws ! '
'Are you mad, girl?' he cried. 'I bid you be
silent and lead on.'
7— p 225
THE DYNAMITER
Again I looked upon him, half relenting ; and at
that he raised the stick that was in his hand and
cruelly struck me on the face. ' Lead on ! ' he cried
again. ' Must I be all day, catching my death in this
vile slough, and all for a prating slave-girl ? '
I took the blow in silence, I took it smiling ; but
the blood welled back upon my heart. Something,
I know not what, fell at that moment with a dull
plunge in the waters of the lagoon, and I told myself
it was my pity that had fallen.
On the farther side, to which we now hastily
scrambled, the wood was not so dense, the web of
creepers not so solidly convolved. It was possible,
here and there, to mark a patch of somewhat brighter
daylight, or to distinguish, through the lighter web
of parasites, the proportions of some soaring tree.
The cypress on the left stood very visibly forth, upon
the edge of such a clearing ; the path in that place
widened broadly ; and there was a patch of open
ground, beset with horrible ant-heaps, thick with
their artificers. I laid down the tools and basket by
the cypress root, where they were instantly blackened
over with the crawling ants ; and looked once more
in the face of my unconscious victim. Mosquitoes
and foul flies wove so close a veil between us that
his features were obscured ; and the sound of their
flight was like the turning of a mighty wheel.
' Here,' I said, ' is the spot. I cannot dig, for I
have not learned to use such instruments ; but, for
your own sake, I beseech you to be swift in what
you do.'
226
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
He had sunk once more upon the ground, panting
like a fish ; and I saw rising in his face the same
dusky flush that had mantled on my father's. ' I
feel ill,' he gasped, 'horribly ill; the swamp turns
around me ; the drone of these carrion flies confounds
me. Have you not wine ? '
I gave him a glass, and he drank greedily. ' It is
for you to think,' said I, 'if you should further
persevere. The swamp has an ill name.' And at
the word I ominously nodded.
' Give me the pick,' said he. ' Where are the jewels
buried ? '
I told him vaguely; and in the sweltering heat
and closeness, and dim twilight of the jungle, he
began to wield the pickaxe, swinging it overhead
with the vigour of a healthy man. At first, there
broke forth upon him a strong sweat, that made his
face to shine, and in which the greedy insects settled
thickly.
' To sweat in such a place,' said I. ' O master, is
this wise ? Fever is drunk in through open pores. '
' What do you mean ? ' he screamed, pausing with
the pick buried in the soil. ' Do you seek to drive
me mad ? Do you think I do not understand the
danger that I run ? '
' That is all I want,' said I : ' I only wish you to
be swift.' And then, my mind flitting to my father's
deathbed, I began to murmur, scarce above my
breath, the same vain repetition of words, ' Hurry,
hurry, hurry.'
Presently, to my surprise, the treasure-seeker took
227
THE DYNAMITER
them up ; and while he still wielded the pick, but
now with staggering and uncertain blows, repeated to
himself, as it were the burthen of a song, ' Hurry,
hurry, hurry ' ; and then again, ' There is no time
to lose ; the marsh has an ill name, ill name ' ; and
then back to ' Hurry, hurry, hurry,' with a dreadful
mechanical, hurried, and yet wearied utterance, as
a sick man rolls upon his pillow. The sweat had
disappeared ; he was now dry, but, all that I could
see of him, of the same dull brick-red. Presently
his pick unearthed the bag of jewels ; but he did not
observe it, and continued hewing at the soil.
* Master,' said I, ' there is the treasure.'
He seemed to waken from a dream. ' Where ? '
he cried ; and then, seeing it before his eyes, ' Can
this be possible ? ' he added. ' I must be light-headed.
Girl,' he cried suddenly, with the same screaming
tone of voice that I had once before observed, ' what
is wrong ? is this swamp accursed ? '
' It is a grave,' I answered. * You will not go out
alive ; and as for me, my life is in God's hands.'
He fell upon the ground like a man struck by a
blow, but whether from the effect of my words, or
from sudden seizure of the malady, I cannot tell.
Pretty soon he raised his head. ' You have brought
me here to die,' he said ; * at the risk of your own
days, you have condemned me. Why ? '
' To save my honour,' I replied. ' Bear me out
that I have warned you. Greed of these pebbles,
and not I, has been your undoer.'
He took out his revolver and handed it to me.
228
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
* You see,' he said, ' I could have killed you even
yet. But I am dying, as you say ; nothing could
save me ; and my bill is long enough already. Dear
me, dear me,' he said, looking in my face with a
curious, puzzled, and pathetic look, like a dull child
at school, ' if there be a judgment afterwards, my bill
is long enough.'
At that, I broke into a passion of weeping, crawled
at his feet, kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness,
put the pistol back into his grasp, and besought him
to avenge his death ; for indeed, if with my life I
could have bought back his, I had not balanced at
the cost. But he was determined, the poor soul,
that I should yet more bitterly regret my act.
' I have nothing to forgive,' said he. * Dear
Heaven, what a thing is an old fool ! I thought,
upon my word, you had taken quite a fancy to me.'
He was seized, at the same time, with a dreadful,
swimming dizziness, clung to me like a child, and
called upon the name of some woman. Presently
this spasm, which I watched with choking tears,
lessened and died away ; and he came again to the
full possession of his mind. ' 1 must write my will,'
he said. ' Get out my pocket-book.' I did so, and
he wrote hurriedly on one page with a pencil. * Do
not let my son know,' he said ; * he is a cruel dog, is
my son Philip ; do not let him know how you have
paid me out'; and then all of a sudden, ' God,' he
cried, ' I am blind,' and clapped both hands before his
eyes ; and then again, and in a groaning whisper,
' Don't leave me to the crabs ! ' I swore I would be
229
THE DYNAMITER
true to him so long as a pulse stirred ; and I re-
deemed my promise. I sat there and watched him,
as I had watched my father, but with what different,
with what appalling thoughts ! Through the long
afternoon, he gradually sank. All that while, I
fought an uphill battle to shield him from the swarms
of ants and the clouds of mosquitoes : the prisoner
of my crime. The night fell, the roar of insects
instantly redoubled in the dark arcades of the swamp ;
and still I was not sure that he had breathed his last.
At length, the flesh of his hand, which I yet held
in mine, grew chill between my fingers, and I knew
that I was free.
I took his pocket-book and the revolver, being
resolved rather to die than to be captured, and, laden
besides with the basket and the bag of gems, set
forward towards the north. The swamp, at that
hour of the night, was filled with a continuous din :
animals and insects of all kinds, and all inimical to
life, contributing their parts. Yet in the midst of this
turmoil of sound, I walked as though my eyes were
bandaged, beholding nothing. The soil sank under
my foot, with a horrid, slippery consistence, as though
I were walking among toads ; the touch of the thick
wall of foliage, by which alone I guided myself,
affrighted me like the touch of serpents ; the dark-
ness checked my breathing like a gag ; indeed, I
have never suffered such extremes of fear as during
that nocturnal walk, nor have I ever known a more
sensible relief than when I found the path beginning
to mount and to grow firmer under foot, and saw,
230
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
although still some way in front of me, the silver
brightness of the moon.
Presently I had crossed the last of the jungle, and
come forth amongst noble and lofty woods, clean
rock, the clean, dry dust, the aromatic smell of
mountain plants* that had been baked all day in
sunlight, and the expressive silence of the night.
My negro blood had carried me unhurt across that
reeking and pestiferous morass ; by mere good
fortune, I had escaped the crawling and stinging
vermin with which it was alive ; and I had now
before me the easier portion of my enterprise, to
cross the isle and to make good my arrival at the
haven and my acceptance on the English yacht. It
was impossible by night to follow such a track as my
father had described ; and I was casting about for
any landmark and, in my ignorance, vainly consult-
ing the disposition of the stars, when there fell upon
my ear, from somewhere far in front, the sound of
many voices hurriedly singing.
I scarce knew upon what grounds I acted ; but I
shaped my steps in the direction of that sound ; and
in a quarter of an hour's walking, came unperceived
to the margin of an open glade. It was lighted by
the strong moon and by the flames of a fire. In the
midst there stood a little low and rude building,
surmounted by a cross : a chapel, as I then re-
membered to have heard, long since desecrated and
given over to the rites of Hoodoo. Hard by the
steps of entrance was a black mass, continually
agitated and stirring to and fro as if with inarticulate
231
THE DYNAMITER
life ; and this I presently perceived to be a heap of
cocks, hares, dogs, and other birds and animals, still
struggling, but helplessly tethered and cruelly tossed
one upon another. Both the fire and the chapel
were surrounded by a ring of kneeling Africans, both
men and women. Now they would raise their palms
half closed to Heaven, with a peculiar, passionate
gesture of supplication ; now they would bow their
heads and spread their hands before them on the
ground. As the double movement passed and re-
passed along the line, the heads kept rising and fall-
ing, like waves upon the sea ; and still, as if in time
to these gesticulations, the hurried chant continued.
I stood spell-bound, knowing that my life depended
by a hair, knowing that I had stumbled on a celebra-
tion of the rites of Hoodoo.
Presently the door of the chapel opened and there
came forth a tall negro, entirely nude, and bearing in
his hand the sacrificial knife. He was followed by
an apparition still more strange and shocking : Madam
Mendizabal, naked also, and carrying in both hands,
and raised to the level of her face, an open basket of
wicker. It was filled with coiling snakes ; and these,
as she stood there with the uplifted basket, shot
through the osier grating and curled about her arms.
At the sight of this, the fervour of the crowd seemed
to swell suddenly higher ; and the chant rose in pitch
and grew more irregular in time and accent. Then,
at a sign from the tall negro, where he stood, motion-
less and smiling, in the moon- and fire-light, the sing-
ing died away, and there began the second stage of
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STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
this barbarous and bloody celebration. From different
parts of the ring, one after another, man or woman,
ran forth into the midst ; ducked, with that same
gesture of the thrown-up hand, before the priestess
and her snakes ; and, with various adjurations, uttered
aloud the blackest wishes of the heart. Death and
disease were the favours usually invoked : the death
or the disease of enemies or rivals ; some calling
down these plagues upon the nearest of their own
blood, and one, to whom I swear I had been never
less than kind, invoking them upon myself. At each
petition, the tall negro, still smiling, picked up some
bird or animal from the heaving mass upon his left,
slew it with the knife, and tossed its body on the
ground. At length, it seemed, it reached the turn
of the high priestess. She set down the basket on
the steps, moved into the centre of the ring, grovelled
in the dust before the reptiles, and still grovelling
lifted up her voice, between speech and singing, and
with so great, with so insane a fervour of excitement,
as struck a sort of horror through my blood. '
' Power,' she began, 'whose name we do not utter;
power that is neither good nor evil, but below them
both ; stronger than good, greater than evil — all my
life long I have adored and served thee. Who has
shed blood upon thine altars ? whose voice is broken
with the singing of thy praises ? whose limbs are
faint before their age with leaping in thy revels?
Who has slain the child of her body ? I,' she
cried, ' I, Metamnbogu ! By my own name, I name
myself. I tear away the veil. I would be served or
2 33
THE DYNAMITER
perish. Hear me, slime of the fat swamp, blackness
of the thunder, venom of the serpent's udder — hear
or slay me ! I would have two things, O shapeless
one, O horror of emptiness — two things, or die !
The blood of my white-faced husband ; oh ! give
me that ; he is the enemy of Hoodoo ; give me his
blood ! And yet another, O racer of the blind
winds, O germinator* in the ruins of the dead, O
root of life, root of corruption ! I grow old, I grow
hideous ; I am known, I am hunted for my life : let
thy servant then lay by this outworn body ; let thy
chief priestess turn again to the blossom of her days,
and be a girl once more, and the desired of all men,
even as in the past ! And, O lord and master, as
I here ask a marvel not yet wrought since we were
torn from the old land, have I not prepared the
sacrifice in which thy soul delighteth — the kid with-
out the horns ? '
Even as she uttered the words, there was a great
rumour of joy through all the circle of worshippers ;
it rose, and fell, and rose again ; and swelled at last
into rapture, when the tall negro, who had stepped
an instant into the chapel, reappeared before the
door, carrying in his arms the body of the slave-girl,
Cora. I know not if I saw what followed. When
next my mind awoke to a clear knowledge, Cora was
laid upon the steps before the serpents; the negro
with the knife stood over her ; the knife rose ; and
at this I screamed out in my great horror, bidding
them, in God's name, to pause.
A stillness fell upon the mob of cannibals. A
234
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
moment more, and they must have thrown off this
stupor, and I infallibly have perished. But Heaven
had designed to save me. The silence of these
wretched men was not yet broken, when there arose,
in the empty night, a sound louder than the roar of
any European tempest, swifter to travel than the
wings of any Eastern wind. Blackness engulfed the
world : blackness, stabbed across from every side
by intricate and blinding lightning. Almost in the
same second, at one world-swallowing stride, the
heart of the tornado reached the clearing. I heard
an agonising crash, and the light of my reason was
overwhelmed.
When I recovered consciousness, the day was
come. I was unhurt ; the trees close about me had
not lost a bough ; and I might have thought at first
that the tornado was a feature in a dream. It was
otherwise indeed ; for when I looked abroad, I per-
ceived I had escaped destruction by a hand's-breadth.
Right through the forest, which here covered hill
and dale, the storm had ploughed a lane of ruin.
On either hand, the trees waved uninjured in the air
of the morning ; but in the forthright course of its
advance, the hurricane had left no trophy standing.
Everything in that line, tree, man, or animal, the
desecrated chapel and the votaries of Hoodoo, had
been subverted and destroyed in that brief spasm of
anger of the powers of air. Everything but a yard
or two beyond the line of its passage, humble flower,
lofty tree, and the poor vulnerable maid who now
knelt to pay her gratitude to Heaven, awoke un-
235
THE DYNAMITER
harmed in the crystal purity and peace of the new
day.
To move by the path of the tornado was a thing
impossible to man, so wildly were the wrecks of the
tall forest piled together by that fugitive convulsion.
I crossed it indeed ; with such labour and patience,
with so many dangerous slips and falls, as left me,
at the farther side, bankrupt alike of strength and
courage. There I sat down a while to recruit my
forces ; and as I ate (how should I bless the kindli-
ness of Heaven !) my eye, flitting to and fro in the
colonnade of the great trees, alighted on a trunk
that had been blazed. Yes, by the directing hand
of Providence, I had been conducted to the very
track I was to follow. With what a light heart I
now set forth, and walking with how glad a step
traversed the uplands of the isle !
It was hard upon the hour of noon when I came,
all tattered and wayworn, to the summit of a steep
descent, and looked below me on the sea. About
all the coast, the surf, roused by the tornado of the
night, beat with a particular fury and made a fringe
of snow. Close at my feet I saw a haven, set in
precipitous and palm-crowned bluffs of rock. Just
outside, a ship was heaving on the surge, so trimly
sparred, so glossily painted, so elegant and point-
device in every feature, that my heart was seized
with admiration. The English colours blew from
her masthead ; and, from my high station, I caught
glimpses of her snowy planking, as she rolled on the
uneven deep, and saw the sun glitter on the brass
236
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
of her deck furniture. There, then, was my ship of
refuge ; and of all my difficulties only one remained :
to get on board of her.
Half an hour later, I issued at last out of the
woods on the margin of a cove, into whose jaws the
tossing and blue billows entered, and along whose
shores they broke with a surprising loudness. A
wooded promontory hid the yacht ; and I had walked
some distance round the beach, in what appeared to
be a virgin solitude, when my eye fell on a boat,
drawn into a natural harbour, where it rocked in
safety, but deserted. I looked about for those who
should have manned her ; and presently, in the im-
mediate entrance of the wood, spied the red embers
of a fire and, stretched around in various attitudes,
a party of slumbering mariners. To these I drew
near : most were black, a few white ; but all were
dressed with the conspicuous decency of yachtsmen ;
and one, from his peaked cap and glittering buttons,
I rightly divined to be an officer. Him, then, I
touched upon the shoulder. He started up ; the
sharpness of his movement woke the rest ; and they
all stared upon me in surprise.
' What do you want ? ' inquired the officer.
' To go on board the yacht,' I answered.
I thought they all seemed disconcerted at this ;
and the officer, with something of sharpness, asked
me who I was. Now I had determined to conceal
my name until I met Sir George ; and the first
name that rose to my lips was that of the Sefiora
Mendizabal. At the word, there went a shock
237
THE DYNAMITER
about the little party of seamen ; the negroes stared
at me with indescribable eagerness, the whites them-
selves with something of a scared surprise ; and
instantly the spirit of mischief prompted me to add :
'And if the name is new to your ears, call me
Metamnbogu.'
I had never seen an effect so wonderful. The
negroes threw their hands into the air, with the
same gesture I remarked the night before about the
Hoodoo camp-fire ; first one, and then another, ran
forward and kneeled down and kissed the skirts of
my torn dress ; and when the white officer broke
out swearing and calling to know if they were mad,
the coloured seamen took him by the shoulders,
dragged him on one side till they were out of
hearing, and surrounded him with open mouths
and extravagant pantomime. The officer seemed
to struggle hard ; he laughed aloud, and I saw him
make gestures of dissent and protest ; but in the
end, whether overcome by reason or simply weary
of resistance, he gave in — approached me civilly
enough, but with something of a sneering manner
underneath — and touching his cap, 'My lady,' said
he, 'if that is what you are, the boat is ready.'
My reception on board the Nemorosa (for so the
yacht was named) partook of the same mingled
nature. We were scarcely within hail of that great
and elegant fabric, where she lay rolling gunwale
under and churning the blue sea to snow, before the
bulwarks were lined with the heads of a great crowd
of seamen, black, white, and yellow ; and these and
238
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
the few who manned the boat began exchanging
shouts in some lingua franca incomprehensible to
me. All eyes were directed on the passenger ; and
once more I saw the negroes toss up their hands to
Heaven, but now as if with passionate wonder and
delight.
At the head of the gangway, I was received by
another officer, a gentlemanly man with blond and
bushy whiskers ; and to him I addressed my demand
to see Sir George.
* But this is not ' he cried, and paused.
'I know it,' returned the other officer, who had
brought me from the shore. ' But what the devil
can we do ? Look at all the niggers ! '
I followed his direction ; and as my eye lighted
upon each, the poor ignorant Africans ducked, and
bowed, and threw their hands into the air, as though
in the presence of a creature half divine. Apparently
the officer with the whiskers had instantly come
round to the opinion of his subaltern ; for he now
addressed me with every signal of respect.
' Sir George is at the island, my lady,' said he :
' for which, with your ladyship's permission, I shall
immediately make all sail. The cabins are prepared.
Steward, take Lady Greville below.'
Under this new name, then, and so captivated
by surprise that I could neither think nor speak, I
was ushered into a spacious and airy cabin, hung
about with weapons and surrounded by divans. The
steward asked for my commands ; but I was by this
time so wearied, bewildered, and disturbed, that I
239
THE DYNAMITER
could only wave him to leave me to myself, and sink
upon a pile of cushions. Presently, by the changed
motion of the ship, I knew her to be under way ;
my thoughts, so far from clarifying, grew the more
distracted and confused ; dreams began to mingle
and confound them ; and at length, by insensible
transition, I sank into a dreamless slumber.
When I awoke, the day and night had passed, and
it was once more morning. The world on which I
reopened my eyes swam strangely up and down ; the
jewels in the bag that lay beside me chinked together
ceaselessly ; the clock and the barometer wagged to
and fro like pendulums ; and overhead, seamen were
singing out at their work, and coils of rope clattering
and thumping on the deck. Yet it was long before
I had divined that I was at sea ; long before I had
recalled, one after another, the tragical, mysterious,
and inexplicable events that had brought me where
I was.
When I had done so, I thrust the jewels, which
I was surprised to find had been respected, into the
bosom of my dress ; and, seeing a silver bell hard by
upon a table, rang it loudly. The steward instantly
appeared ; I asked for food ; and he proceeded to
lay the table, regarding me the while with a dis-
quieting and pertinacious scrutiny. To relieve my-
self of my embarrassment, I asked him, with as fair
a show of ease as I could muster, if it were usual for
yachts to carry so numerous a crew ?
' Madam,' said he, ' I know not who you are, nor
what mad fancy has induced you to usurp a name
240
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
and an appalling destiny that* are not yours. I
warn you from the soul. No sooner arrived at the
island '
At this moment he was interrupted by the
whiskered officer, who had entered unperceived
behind him, and now laid a hand upon his shoulder.
The sudden pallor, the deadly and sick fear, that
was imprinted on the steward's face, formed a start-
ling addition to his words.
' Parker ! ' said the officer, and pointed towards the
door.
' Yes, Mr. Kentish,' said the steward. ' For God's
sake, Mr. Kentish ! ' And vanished, with a white
face, from the cabin.
Thereupon the officer bade me sit down, and
began to help me, and join in the meal. ' I fill your
ladyship's glass,' said he, and handed me a tumbler
of neat rum.
' Sir,' cried I, ' do you expect me to drink this ? '
He laughed heartily. ' Your ladyship is so much
changed,' said he, ' that I no longer expect any one
thing more than any other.'
Immediately after, a white seaman entered the
cabin, saluted both Mr. Kentish and myself, and
informed the officer there was a sail in sight, which
was bound to pass us very close, and that Mr.
Harland was in doubt about the colours.
' Being so near the island ? ' asked Mr. Kentish.
' That was what Mr. Harland said, sir,' returned
the sailor, with a scrape.
* Better not, I think,' said Mr. Kentish. 'My
7— Q 241
THE DYNAMITER
compliments to Mr. Harland ; and if she seem a
lively boat, give her the stars and stripes ; but if
she be dull, and we can easily outsail her, show
John Dutchman. That is always another word for
incivility at sea ; so we can disregard a hail or a flag
of distress, without attracting notice.'
As soon as the sailor had gone on deck, I turned
to the officer in wonder. ' Mr. Kentish, if that be
your name,' said I, ' are you ashamed of your own
colours ? '
' Your ladyship refers to the Jolly Roger 1 ' he
inquired, with perfect gravity ; and, immediately
after, went into peals of laughter. ■ Pardon me,'
said he ; * but here for the first time, I recognise
your ladyship's impetuosity.' Nor, try as I pleased,
could I extract from him any explanation of this
mystery, but only oily and commonplace evasion.
While we were thus occupied, the movement of
the Nemorosa gradually became less violent ; its
speed at the same time diminished; and presently
after, with a sullen plunge, the anchor was discharged
into the sea. Kentish immediately rose, offered his
arm, and conducted me on deck ; where I found we
were lying in a roadstead among many low and
rocky islets, hovered about by an innumerable cloud
of sea-fowl. Immediately under our board, a some-
what larger isle was green with trees, set with a few
low buildings and approached by a pier of very crazy
workmanship ; and a little inshore of us, a smaller
vessel lay at anchor.
I had scarce time to glance to the four quarters
242
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
ere a boat was lowered. I was handed in, Kentish
took place beside me, and we pulled briskly to the
pier. A crowd of villainous, armed loiterers, both
black and white, looked on upon our landing ; and
again the word passed about among the negroes, and
again I was received with prostrations and the same
gesture of the flung-up hand. By this, what with
the appearance of these men and the lawless, sea-girt
spot in which I found myself, my courage began a
little to decline, and, clinging to the arm of Mr.
Kentish, I begged him to tell me what it meant ?
'Nay, madam,' he returned, ' you know.' And
leading me smartly through the crowd, which con-
tinued to follow at a considerable distance, and at
which he still kept looking back, I thought, with
apprehension, he brought me to a low house that
stood alone in an encumbered yard, opened the door,
and begged me to enter.
' But why ? ' said I. ' I demand to see Sir George. 1
' Madam,' returned Mr. Kentish, looking suddenly
as black as thunder, 'to drop all fence, I know
neither who nor what you are ; beyond the fact
that you are not the person whose name you have
assumed. But be what you please, spy, ghost, devil,
or most ill-judging jester, if you do not immediately
enter that house, I will cut you to the earth.' And
even as he spoke, he threw an uneasy glance behind
him at the following crowd of blacks.
I did not wait to be twice threatened ; I obeyed
at once and with a palpitating heart ; and the next
moment, the door was locked from the outside and
243
THE DYNAMITER
the key withdrawn. The interior was long, low, and
quite unfurnished, but rilled, almost from end to
end, with sugar-cane, tar-barrels, old tarry rope, and
other incongruous and highly inflammable material ;
and not only was the door locked, but the solitary
window barred with iron.
I was by this time so exceedingly bewildered and
afraid, that I would have given years of my life to
be once more the slave of Mr. Caulder. I still stood,
with my hands clasped, the image of despair, looking
about me on the lumber of the room or raising my
eyes to Heaven ; when there appeared, outside the
window bars, the face of a very black negro, who
signed to me imperiously to draw near. I did so,
and he instantly, and with every mark of fervour,
addressed me a long speech in some unknown and
barbarous tongue.
* I declare,' I cried, clasping my brow, ' I do not
understand one syllable.'
' Not ? ' he said in Spanish. ' Great, great, are the
powers of Hoodoo ! Her very mind is changed !
But, O chief priestess, why have you suffered your-
self to be shut into this cage ? why did you not call
your slaves at once to your defence ? Do you not
see that all has been prepared to murder you ? at a
spark, this flimsy house will go in flames ; and alas !
who shall then be the chief priestess ? and what shall
be the profit of the miracle ? '
' Heavens ! ' cried I, ' can I not see Sir George ?
I must, I must, come by speech of him. Oh, bring
me to Sir George ! ' And, my terror fairly mastering
244
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
my courage, I fell upon my knees and began to pray
to all the saints.
' Lordy ! ' cried the negro, ' here they come ! ' And
his black head was instantly withdrawn from the
window.
* I never heard such nonsense in my life,' exclaimed
a voice.
' Why, so we all say, Sir George,' replied the voice
of Mr. Kentish. ' But put yourself in our place.
The niggers were near two to one. And upon my
word, if you '11 excuse me, sir, considering the notion
they have taken in their heads, I regard it as precious
fortunate for all of us that the mistake occurred.'
' This is no question of fortune, sir,' returned Sir
George. ' It is a question of my orders, and you
may take my word for it, Kentish, either Harland,
or yourself, or Parker — or, by George, all three of
you ! — shall swing for this affair. These are my
sentiments. Give me the key and be off.'
Immediately after, the key turned in the lock ; and
there appeared upon the threshold a gentleman, be-
tween forty and fifty, with a very open countenance
and of a stout and personable figure.
' My dear young lady,' said he, ' who the devil may
you be ? '
I told him all my story in one rush of words. He
heard me, from the first, with an amazement you can
scarcely picture, but when I came to the death of
the Senora Mendizabal in the tornado, he fairly
leaped into the air.
' My dear child,' he cried, clasping me in his arms,
245
THE DYNAMITER
' excuse a man who might be your father ! This is
the best news I ever had since I was born ; for that
hag of a mulatto was no less a person than my wife.'
He sat down upon a tar-barrel, as if unmanned by
joy. ' Dear me,' said he, ' I declare this tempts me
to believe in Providence. And what,' he added, ' can
I do for you ? '
e Sir George,' said I, ' I am already rich : all that I
ask is your protection.'
' Understand one thing,' he said, with great energy :
' I will never marry.'
' I had not ventured to propose it,' I exclaimed,
unable to restrain my mirth ; ' I only seek to be
conveyed to England, the natural home of the
escaped slave.'
' Well,' returned Sir George, ' frankly I owe you
something for this exhilarating news ; besides, your
father was of use to me. Now, I have made a small
competence in business — a jewel mine, a sort of
naval agency, et caetera, and I am on the point of
breaking up my company, and retiring to my place
in Devonshire to pass a plain old age, unmarried.
One good turn deserves another : if you swear to
hold your tongue about this island, these little bon-
fire arrangements, and the whole episode of my un-
fortunate marriage, why, I 11 carry you home aboard
the Nemorosa.''
I eagerly accepted his conditions.
' One thing more,' said he. ' My late wife was
some sort of a sorceress among the blacks ; and they
are all persuaded she has come alive again in your
246
STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
agreeable person. Now, you will have the goodness
to keep up that fancy, if you please ; and to swear
to them, on the authority of Hoodoo or whatever
his name may be, that I am from this moment quite
a sacred character.'
' I swear it,' said I, * by my father's memory ; and
that is a vow that I will never break.'
« 1 have considerably better hold on you than any
oath,' returned Sir George, with a chuckle ; « for you
are not only an escaped slave, but have, by your own
account, a considerable amount of stolen property.'
I was struck dumb ; I saw it was too true ; in a
glance, I recognised that these jewels were no longer
mine ; with similar quickness, I decided they should
be restored, ay, if it cost me the liberty that I had
just regained. Forgetful of all else, forgetful of Sir
George who sat and watched me with a smile, I
drew out Mr. Caulder's pocket-book and turned to
the page on which the dying man had scrawled his
testament. How shall I describe the agony of
happiness and remorse with which I read it ! for my
victim had not only set me free, but bequeathed to
me the bag of jewels.
My plain tale draws towards a close. Sir George
and I, in my character of his rejuvenated wife, dis-
played ourselves arm-in-arm among the negroes, and
were cheered and followed to the place of embarka-
tion. There, Sir George, turning about, made a
speech to his old companions, in which he thanked
and bade them farewell with a very manly spirit ;
and towards the end of which he fell on some
247
THE DYNAMITER
expressions which I still remember. ' If any of you
gentry lose your money,' he said, ' take care you do
not come to me ; for in the first place, I shall do my
best to have you murdered ; and if that fails, I hand
you over to the law. Blackmail won't do for me.
1 11 rather risk all upon a cast, than be pulled to
pieces by degrees. 1 11 rather be found out and
hang, than give a doit to one man-jack of you.'
That same night we got under way and crossed to
the port of New Orleans, whence, as a sacred trust,
I sent the pocket-book to Mr. Caulder's son. In a
week's time, the men were all paid off; new hands
were shipped ; and the Nemorosa weighed her anchor
for Old England.
A more delightful voyage it were hard to fancy.
Sir George, of course, was not a conscientious man ;
but he had an unaffected gaiety of character that
naturally endeared him to the young ; and it was
interesting to hear him lay out his projects for the
future, when he should be returned to parliament,
and place at the service of the nation his experience
of marine affairs. I asked him, if his notion of piracy
upon a private yacht were not original. But he told
me, no, ' A yacht, Miss Valdevia,' he observed, ' is
a chartered nuisance. Who smuggles ? Who robs
the salmon rivers of the west of Scotland ? Who
cruelly beats the keepers if they dare to intervene ?
The crews and the proprietors of yachts. All I have
done is to extend the line a trifle ; and if you ask
me for my unbiassed opinion, I do not suppose that
I am in the least alone.'
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STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
In short we were the best of friends, and lived like
father and daughter ; though I still withheld from
him, of course, that respect which is only due to
moral excellence.
We were still some days' sail from England when
Sir George obtained, from an outward-bound ship, a
packet of newspapers ; and from that fatal hour my
misfortunes recommenced. He sat, the same even-
ing, in the cabin, reading the news, and making
savoury comments on the decline of England and
the poor condition of the navy ; when I suddenly
observed him to change countenance.
' Hullo ! ' said he, ' this is bad ; this is deuced bad,
Miss Valdevia. You would not listen to sound sense,
you would send that pocket-book to that man
Caulder's son.'
' Sir George,' said I, 'it was my duty.'
' You are prettily paid for it, at least,' says he ;
' and much as I regret it, I, for one, am done with
you. This fellow Caulder demands your extradition.'
'But a slave,' I returned, 'is safe in England.'
' Yes, by George ! ' replied the baronet ; ' but it 's
not a slave, Miss Valdevia, it's a thief that he
demands. He has quietly destroyed the will; and
now accuses you of robbing your father's bankrupt
estate of jewels to the value of a hundred thousand
pounds.'
I was so much overcome by indignation at this
hateful charge and concern for my unhappy fate that
the genial baronet made haste to put me more at
ease.
249
THE DYNAMITER
' Do not be cast down,' said he. ' Of course, I
wash my hands of you myself. A man in my
position — baronet, old family, and all that — cannot
possibly be too particular about the company he
keeps. But I am a deuced good-humoured old boy,
let me tell you, when not ruffled ; and I will do the
best I can to put you right. I will lend you a trifle
of ready money, give you the address of an excellent
lawyer in London, and find a way to set you on
shore unsuspected.'
He was in every particular as good as his word.
Four days later, the Nemorosa sounded her way,
under the cloak of a dark night, into a certain haven
of the coast of England ; and a boat, rowing with
muffled oars, set me ashore upon the beach within a
stone's throw of a railway station. Thither, guided
by Sir George's directions, I groped a devious way ;
and, finding a bench upon the platform, sat me down,
wrapped in a man's fur greatcoat, to await the
coming of the day. It was still dark when a light
was struck behind one of the windows of the build-
ing ; nor had the east begun to kindle to the warmer
colours of the dawn, before a porter, carrying a
lantern, issued from the door and found himself face
to face with the unfortunate Teresa. He looked all
about him ; in the grey twilight of the dawn, the
haven was seen to lie deserted, and the yacht had
long since disappeared.
' Who are you ? ' he cried.
4 1 am a traveller,' said I.
' And where do you come from ? ' he asked.
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STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN
' I am going, by the first train, to London,' I
replied.
In such manner, like a ghost or a new creation,
was Teresa with her bag of jewels landed on the
shores of England ; in this silent fashion, without
history or name, she took her place among the
millions of a new country.
Since then, I have lived by the expedients of my
lawyer, lying concealed in quiet lodgings, dogged by
the spies of Cuba, and not knowing at what hour
my liberty and honour may be lost.
THE BROWN BOX (concluded)
The effect of this tale on the mind of Harry Des-
borough was instant and convincing. The Fair
Cuban had been already the loveliest, she now
became, in his eyes, the most romantic, the most
innocent, and the most unhappy of her sex. He was
bereft of words to utter what he felt : what pity,
what admiration, what youthful envy of a career
so vivid and adventurous. ' Oh, madam ! ' he began;
and finding no language adequate to that apo-
strophe, caught up her hand and wrung it in his own.
6 Count upon me,' he added, with bewildered fervour;
and, getting somehow or other out of the apartment
and from the circle of that radiant sorceress, he
found himself in the strange out-of-doors, beholding
dull houses, wondering at dull passers-by, a fallen
angel. She had smiled upon him as he left, and
251
THE DYNAMITER
with how significant, how beautiful a smile ! The
memory lingered in his heart ; and when he found
his way to a certain restaurant where music was
performed, flutes (as it were of Paradise) accom-
panied his meal. The strings went to the melody
of that parting smile ; they paraphrased and glossed
it in the sense that he desired ; and for the first time
in his plain and somewhat dreary life, he perceived
himself to have a taste for music.
The next day, and the next, his meditations moved
to that delectable air. Now he saw her, and was
favoured ; now saw her not at all ; now saw her and
was put by. The fall of her foot upon the stair
entranced him ; the books that he sought out and
read were books on Cuba and spoke of her in-
directly; nay, and in the very landlady's parlour,
he found one that told of precisely such a hurricane
and, down to the smallest detail, confirmed (had
confirmation been required) the truth of her recital.
Presently he began to fall into that prettiest mood
of a young love, in which the lover scorns himself
for his presumption. Who was he, the dull one, the
commonplace unemployed, the man without adven-
ture, the impure, the untruthful, to aspire to such
a creature made of fire and air, and hallowed and
adorned by such incomparable passages of fife?
What should he do, to be more worthy ? by what
devotion, call down the notice of these eyes to so
terrene a being as himself?
He betook himself, thereupon, to the rural privacy
of the square, where, being a lad of a kind heart, he
252
THE BROWN BOX
had made himself a circle of acquaintances among
its shy frequenters, the half-domestic cats and the
visitors that hung before the windows of the Chil-
dren's Hospital. There he walked, considering the
depth of his demerit and the height of the adored
one's super-excellence; now lighting upon earth to
say a pleasant word to the brother of some infant
invalid ; now, with a great heave of breath, remem-
bering the queen of women, and the sunshine of his
life.
What was he to do? Teresa, he had observed,
was in the habit of leaving the house towards after-
noon : she might, perchance, run danger from some
Cuban emissary, when the presence of a friend might
turn the balance in her favour : how, then, if he
should follow her? To offer his company would
seem like an intrusion ; to dog her openly were a
manifest impertinence ; he saw himself reduced to a
more stealthy part, which, though in some ways
distasteful to his mind, he did not doubt that he
could practise with the skill of a detective.
The next day he proceeded to put his plan in
action. At the corner of Tottenham Court Road,
however, the Senorita suddenly turned back, and
met him face to face, with every mark of pleasure
and surprise.
* Ah, Senor, I am sometimes fortunate ! ' she cried.
' I was looking for a messenger ' ; and with the
sweetest of smiles she despatched him to the east
end of London, to an address which he was unable
to find. This was a bitter pill to the knight-errant ;
2 53
THE DYNAMITER
but when he returned at night, worn out with fruit-
less wandering and dismayed by his fiasco, the lady
received him with a friendly gaiety, protesting that
all was for the best, since she had changed her mind
and long since repented of her message.
Next day he resumed his labours, glowing with
pity and courage, and determined to protect Teresa
with his life. But a painful shock awaited him. In
the narrow and silent Hanway Street, she turned
suddenly about and addressed him with a manner
and a light in her eyes, that were new to the young
man's experience.
' Do I understand that you follow me, Senor ? '
she cried. ' Are these the manners of the English
gentleman ? '
Harry confounded himself in the most abject
apologies and prayers to be forgiven, vowed to
offend no more, and was at length dismissed, crest-
fallen and heavy of heart. The check was final ;
he gave up that road to service ; and began once
more to hang about the square or on the terrace,
filled with remorse and love, admirable and idiotic,
a fit object for the scorn and envy of older men. In
these idle hours, while he was courting fortune for a
sight of the beloved, it fell out naturally that he
should observe the manners and appearance of such
as came about the house. One person alone was the
occasional visitor of the young lady : a man of con-
siderable stature and distinguished only by the
doubtful ornament of a chin-beard in the style of
an American deacon. Something in his appearance
254
THE BROWN BOX
grated upon Harry; this distaste grew upon him
in the course of days ; and when at length he
mustered courage to inquire of the Fair Cuban
who this was, he was yet more dismayed by her
reply.
' That gentleman,' said she, a smile struggling to
her face, ' that gentleman, I will not attempt to con-
ceal from you, desires my hand in marriage, and
presses me with the most respectful ardour. Alas,
what am I to say ? I, the forlorn Teresa, how shall
I refuse or accept such protestations ? '
Harry feared to say more ; a horrid pang of jealousy
transfixed him ; and he had scarce the strength of
mind to take his leave with decency. In the solitude
of his own chamber, he gave way to every mani-
festation of despair. He passionately adored the
Senorita ; but it was not only the thought of her
possible union with another that distressed his soul,
it was the indefeasible conviction that her suitor was
unworthy. To a duke, a bishop, a victorious general,
or any man adorned with obvious qualities, he had
resigned her with a sort of bitter joy ; he saw himself
follow the wedding party from a great way off; he
saw himself return to the poor house, then robbed of
its jewel; and while he could have wept for his
despair, he felt he could support it nobly. But this
affair looked otherwise. The man was patently no
gentleman ; he had a startled, skulking, guilty bear-
ing ; his nails were black, his eyes evasive ; his love
perhaps was a pretext; he was perhaps, under this
deep disguise, a Cuban emissary ! Harry swore that
255
THE DYNAMITER
he would satisfy these doubts ; and the next evening,
about the hour of the usual visit, he posted himself
at a spot whence his eye commanded the three issues
of the square.
Presently after, a four-wheeler rumbled to the
door; and the man with the chin-beard alighted,
paid off the cabman, and was seen by Harry to enter
the house with a brown box hoisted on his back.
Half an hour later, he came forth again without the
box, and struck eastward at a rapid walk ; and Des-
borough, with the same skill and caution that he had
displayed in following Teresa, proceeded to dog the
steps of her admirer. The man began to loiter,
studying with apparent interest the wares of the
small fruiterer or tobacconist ; twice he returned
hurriedly upon his former course ; and then, as
though he had suddenly conquered a moment's
hesitation, once more set forth with resolute and
swift steps in the direction of Lincoln's Inn. At
length, in a deserted by-street, he turned ; and
coming up to Harry with a countenance which
seemed to have become older and whiter, inquired
with some severity of speech if he had not had the
pleasure of seeing the gentleman before.
'You have, sir,' said Harry, somewhat abashed,
but with a good show of stoutness ; ' and I will not
deny that I was following you on purpose. Doubt-
less,' he added, for he supposed that all men's minds
must still be running on Teresa, ' you can divine my
reason.'
At these words, the man with the chin -beard
256
THE BROWN BOX
was seized with a palsied tremor. He seemed, for
some seconds, to seek the utterance which his fear
denied him ; and then, whipping sharply about, he
took to his heels at the most furious speed of
running.
Harry was at first so taken aback that he neglected
to pursue; and by the time he had recovered his
wits, his best expedition was only rewarded by a
glimpse of the man with the chin-beard mounting
into a hansom, which immediately after disappeared
into the moving crowds of Holborn.
Puzzled and dismayed by this unusual behaviour,
Harry returned to the house in Queen Square, and
ventured for the first time to knock at the Fair
Cuban's door. She bade him enter, and he found
her kneeling with rather a disconsolate air beside a
brown wooden trunk.
'Senorita,' he broke out, 'I doubt whether that
man's character is what he wishes you to believe.
His manner, when he found, and indeed when I
admitted, that I was following him, was not the
manner of an honest man.'
' Oh ! ' she cried, throwing up her hands as in de-
speration, 'Don Quixote, Don Quixote, have you
again been tilting against windmills ? ' And then,
with a laugh, ' Poor soul ! ' she added, ' how you
must have terrified him ! For know that the Cuban
authorities are here, and your poor Teresa may soon
be hunted down. Even yon humble clerk from my
solicitor's office may find himself at any moment the
quarry of armed spies.'
7— r 257
THE DYNAMITER
'A humble clerk!' cried Harry, 'why, you told
me yourself that he wished to marry you ! '
' I thought you English like what you call a joke,'
replied the lady calmly. ' As a matter of fact he is
my lawyer's clerk, and has been here to-night charged
with disastrous news. I am in sore straits, Senor
Harry. Will you help me ? '
At this most welcome word, the young man's
heart exulted ; and in the hope, pride, and self-esteem,
that kindled with the very thought of service, he
forgot to dwell upon the lady's jest. 'Can you
ask?' he cried. 'What is there that I can do?
Only tell me that ! '
With signs of an emotion that was certainly un-
feigned, the Fair Cuban laid her hand upon the box.
'This box/ she said, 'contains my jewels, papers,
and clothes; all, in a word, that still connects me
with Cuba and my dreadful past. They must now
be smuggled out of England ; or, by the opinion of
my lawyer, I am lost beyond remedy. To-morrow,
on board the Irish packet, a sure hand awaits the
box ; the problem still unsolved is to find some one
to carry it as far as Holyhead, to see it placed on
board the steamer, and instantly return to town.
Will you be he ? Will you leave to-morrow by the
first train, punctually obey orders, bear still in mind
that you are surrounded by Cuban spies ; and with-
out so much as a look behind you, or a single move-
ment to betray your interest, leave the box where
you have put it and come straight on shore ? Will
you do this, and so save your friend ? '
258
THE BROWN BOX
'I do not clearly understand . . .' began Harry.
'No more do I,' replied the Cuban. 'It is not
necessary that we should, so long as we obey the
lawyer's orders.'
' Sefiorita,' returned Harry gravely, * I think this,
of course, a very little thing to do for you, when I
would willingly do all. But suffer me to say one
word. If London is unsafe for your treasures, it
cannot long be safe for you ; and indeed, if I at all
fathom the plan of your solicitor, I fear I may find
you already fled on my return. I am not considered
clever, and can only speak out plainly what is in my
heart: that I love you, and that I cannot bear to
lose all knowledge of you. I hope no more than to
be your servant ; I ask no more than just that I shall
hear of you. Oh, promise me so much ! '
' You shall,' she said, after a pause. ' I promise
you, you shall.' But though she spoke with earnest-
ness, the marks of great embarrassment and a strong
conflict of emotions appeared upon her face.
' I wish to tell you,' resumed Desborough, ' in case
of accidents . . .'
' Accidents ! ' she cried : ' why do you say that ? '
' I do not know,' said he, * you may be gone before
my return, and we may not meet again for long.
And so I wished you to know this : That since the
day you gave me the cigarette, you have never once,
not once, been absent from my mind ; and if it will
in any way serve you, you may crumple me up like
that piece of paper, and throw me on the fire. I
would love to die for you.'
259
THE DYNAMITER
f Go ! ' she said. ' Go now at once ! My brain is
in a whirl. I scarce know what we are talking.
Go ; and good-night ; and oh, may you come safe I '
Once back in his own room a fearful joy possessed
the young man's mind ; and as he recalled her face
struck suddenly white and the broken utterance of
her last words, his heart at once exulted and misgave
him. Love had indeed looked upon him with a
tragic mask ; and yet what mattered, since at least
it was love — since at least she was commoved at their
division ? He got to bed with these parti-coloured
thoughts; passed from one dream to another all
night long, the white face of Teresa still haunting
him, wrung with unspoken thoughts ; and, in the
grey of the dawn, leaped suddenly out of bed, in a
kind of horror. It was already time for him to rise.
He dressed, made his breakfast on cold food that had
been laid for him the night before ; and went down
to the room of his idol for the box. The door was
open ; a strange disorder reigned within ; the fur-
niture all pushed aside, and the centre of the room
left bare of impediment, as though for the pacing of
a creature with a tortured mind. There lay the box,
however, and upon the lid a paper with these words :
' Harry, I hope to be back before you go. Teresa. '
He sat down to wait, laying his watch before him
on the table. She had called him Harry : that
should be enough, he thought, to fill the day with
sunshine ; and yet somehow the sight of that dis-
ordered room still poisoned his enjoyment. The
door of the bedchamber stood gaping open ; and
260
THE BROWN BOX
though he turned aside his eyes as from a sacrilege,
he could not but observe the bed had not been slept
in. He was still pondering what this should mean,
still trying to convince himself that all was well,
when the moving needle of his watch summoned him
to set forth without delay. He was before all things
a man of his word ; ran round to Southampton Row
to fetch a cab ; and, taking the box on the front seat,
drove off towards the terminus.
The streets were scarcely awake ; there was little
to amuse the eye ; and the young man's attention
centred on the dumb companion of his drive. A
card was nailed upon one side, bearing the super-
scription : ' Miss Doolan, passenger to Dublin.
Glass. With care.' He thought with a sentimental
shock that the fair idol of his heart was perhaps
driven to adopt the name of Doolan ; and, as he still
studied the card, he was aware of a deadly black
depression settling steadily upon his spirits. It was
in vain for him to contend against the tide ; in vain
that he shook himself or tried to whistle : the sense
of some impending blow was not to be averted. He
looked out ; in the long, empty streets, the cab pur-
sued its way without a trace of any follower. He
gave ear ; and over and above the jolting of the
wheels upon the road, he was conscious of a certain
regular and quiet sound that seemed to issue from
the box. He put his ear to the cover; at one
moment, he seemed to perceive a delicate ticking;
the next, the sound was gone, nor could his closest
hearkening recapture it. He laughed at himself;
261
THE DYNAMITER
but still the gloom continued ; and it was with more
than the common relief of an arrival, that he leaped
from the cab before the station.
Probably enough on purpose, Teresa had named
an hour some thirty minutes earlier than needful ;
and when Harry had given the box into the charge
of a porter, who set it on a truck, he proceeded
briskly to pace the platform. Presently the book-
stall opened ; and the young man was looking at the
books when he was seized by the arm. He turned
and, though she was closely veiled, at once recog-
nised the Fair Cuban.
' Where is it ? ' she asked ; and the sound of her
voice surprised him.
'It?' he said. 'What?'
' The box. Have it put on a cab instantly. I am
in fearful haste.'
He hurried to obey, marvelling at these changes
but not daring to trouble her with questions ; and
when the cab had been brought round, and the box
mounted on the front, she passed a little way off
upon the pavement and beckoned him to follow.
' Now,' said she, still in those mechanical and
hushed tones that had at first affected him, 'you
must go on to Holyhead alone ; go on board the
steamer ; and if you see a man in tartan trousers and
a pink scarf, say to him that all has been put off : if
not,' she added, with a sobbing sigh, 'it does not
matter. So, good-bye.'
'Teresa,' said Harry, 'get into your cab, and I
will go along with you. You are in some distress,
262
THE BROWN BOX
perhaps some danger; and till I know the whole,
not even you can make me leave you.'
' You will not ? ' she asked. ' Oh, Harry, it were
better ! '
' I will not,' said Harry stoutly.
She looked at him for a moment through her
veil ; took his hand suddenly and sharply, but more
as if in fear than tenderness ; and, still holding him,
walked to the cab-door.
' Where are we to drive ? ' asked Harry.
'Home, quickly,' she answered; 'double fare!'
And as soon as they had both mounted to their
places, the vehicle crazily trundled from the station.
Teresa leaned back in a corner. The whole way
Harry could perceive her tears to flow under her
veil ; but she vouchsafed no explanation. At the
door of the house in Queen Square, both alighted ;
and the cabman lowered the box, which Harry, glad
to display his strength, received upon his shoulders.
' Let the man take it,' she whispered. ' Let the
man take it.'
' I will do no such thing,' said Harry cheerfully ;
and having paid the fare, he followed Teresa through
the door which she had opened with her key. The
landlady and maid were gone upon their morning
errands ; the house was empty and still ; and as the
rattling of the cab died away down Gloucester Street,
and Harry continued to ascend the stair with his
burthen, he heard close against his shoulders the
same faint and muffled ticking as before. The lady,
still preceding him, opened the door of her room,
263
THE DYNAMITER
and helped him to lower the box tenderly in the
corner by the window.
' And now,' said Harry, 'what is wrong ? '
' You will not go away ? ' she cried, with a sudden
break in her voice and beating her hands together in
the very agony of impatience. ' Oh, Harry, Harry,
go away ! Oh, go, and leave me to the fate that I
deserve ! '
' The fate ? ' repeated Harry. ' What is this ? '
' No fate,' she resumed. ' I do not know what I
am saying. But I wish to be alone. You may come
back this evening, Harry; come again when you
like ; but leave me now, only leave me now ! ' And
then suddenly, ' I have an errand,' she exclaimed ;
' you cannot refuse me that ! '
' No,' replied Harry, ' you have no errand. You
are in grief or danger. Lift your veil and tell me
what it is.'
'Then,' she said, with a sudden composure, 'you
leave but one course open to me.' And raising the
veil, she showed him a countenance from which
every trace of colour had fled, eyes marred with
weeping, and a brow on which resolve had conquered
fear. ' Harry,' she began, ' I am not what I seem.'
'You have told me that before,' said Harry,
' several times.'
'Oh, Harry, Harry,' she cried, 'how you shame
me ! But this is the God's truth. I am a dangerous
and wicked girl. My name is Clara Luxmore. I
was never nearer Cuba than Penzance. From first
to last I have cheated and played with you. And
264
THE BROWN BOX
what I am I dare not even name to you in words.
Indeed, until to-day, until the sleepless watches of
last night, I never grasped the depth and foulness of
my guilt.'
The young man looked upon her aghast. Then a
generous current poured along his veins. ' That is
all one,' he said. ' If you be all you say, you have
the greater need of me.'
' Is it possible,' she exclaimed, ' that I have
schemed in vain ? And will nothing drive you from
this house of death ? '
' Of death ? ' he echoed.
' Death ! ' she cried : ' death ! In that box which
you have dragged about London and carried on your
defenceless shoulders, sleep, at the trigger's mercy,
the destroying energies of dynamite.'
' My God ! ' cried Harry.
' Ah ! ' she continued wildly, ' will you flee now ?
At any moment you may hear the click that sounds
the ruin of this building. I was sure M'Guire was
wrong ; this morning, before day, I flew to Zero ;
he confirmed my fears ; I beheld you, my beloved
Harry, fall a victim to my own contrivances. I
knew then I loved you — Harry, will you go now ?
Will you not spare me this unwilling crime ? '
Harry remained speechless, his eyes fixed upon
the box : at last he turned to her.
' Is it,' he asked hoarsely, * an infernal machine ? '
Her lips formed the word ' yes ' ; which her voice
refused to utter.
With fearful curiosity, he drew near and bent
265
THE DYNAMITER
above the box ; in that still chamber, the ticking
was distinctly audible ; and at the measured sound,
the blood flowed back upon his heart.
* For whom ? ' he asked.
' What matters it ? ' she cried, seizing him by the
arm. 'If you may still be saved, what matter
questions ? '
' God in Heaven ! ' cried Harry. * And the Chil-
dren's Hospital ! At whatever cost, this damned
contrivance must be stopped ! '
'It cannot,' she gasped. 'The power of man
cannot avert the blow. But you, Harry — you, my
beloved — you may still '
And then from the box that lay so quietly in the
corner, a sudden catch was audible, like the catch of
a clock before it strikes the hour. For one second,
the two stared at each other with lifted brows and
stony eyes. Then Harry, throwing one arm over
his face, with the other clutched the girl to his
breast and staggered against the wall.
A dull and startling thud resounded through the
room ; their eyes blinked against the coming horror ;
and still clinging together like drowning people, they
fell to the floor. Then followed a prolonged and
strident hissing as from the indignant pit ; an offen-
sive stench seized them by the throat ; the room was
filled with dense and choking fumes.
Presently these began a little to disperse: and
when at length they drew themselves, all limp and
shaken, to a sitting posture, the first object that
greeted their vision was the box reposing uninjured
266
THE BROWN BOX
in its corner, but still leaking little wreaths of vapour
round the lid.
' Oh, poor Zero ! ' cried the girl, with a strange
sobbing laugh. ' Alas, poor Zero ! This will break
his heart 1 '
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (concluded)
Somerset ran straight upstairs ; the door of the
drawing-room, contrary to all custom, was unlocked ;
and, bursting in, the young man found Zero seated
on a sofa in an attitude of singular dejection. Close
beside him stood an untasted grog, the mark of
strong preoccupation. The room besides was in
confusion : boxes had been tumbled to and fro ; the
floor was strewn with keys and other implements;
and in the midst of this disorder lay a lady's glove.
* I have come,' cried Somerset, ' to make an end of
this. Either you will instantly abandon all your
schemes, or (cost what it may) I will denounce you
to the police.'
' Ah ! ' replied Zero, slowly shaking his head.
' You are too late, dear fellow ! I am already at
the end of all my hopes and fallen to be a laughing-
stock and mockery. My reading,' he added, with a
gentle despondency of manner, ' has not been much
among romances ; yet I recall from one a phrase
that depicts my present state with critical exacti-
tude ; and you behold me sitting here " like a burst
drum." '
267
THE DYNAMITER
' What has befallen you ? ' cried Somerset.
' My last batch,' returned the plotter wearily, ' like
all the others, is a hollow mockery and a fraud. In
vain do I combine the elements ; in vain adjust the
springs ; and I have now arrived at such a pitch of
disconsideration that (except yourself, dear fellow),
I do not know a soul that I can face. My sub-
ordinates themselves have turned upon me. What
language have I heard to-day, what illiberality of
sentiment, what pungency of expression ! She came
once; I could have pardoned that, for she was
moved ; but she returned, returned to announce
to me this crushing blow ; and, Somerset, she was
very inhumane. Yes, dear fellow, I have drunk a
bitter cup ; the speech of females is remarkable for
. . . well, well ! Denounce me, if you will ; you
but denounce the dead. I am extinct. It is strange
how, at this supreme crisis of my life, I should be
haunted by quotations from works of an inexact and
even fanciful description ; but here,' he added, * is
another : " Othello's occupation 's gone." Yes, dear
Somerset, it is gone ; I am no more a dynamiter ;
and how, I ask you, after having tasted of these
joys, am I to condescend to a less glorious life ? '
' I cannot describe how you relieve me,' returned
Somerset, sitting down on one of several boxes that
had been drawn out into the middle of the floor. ' I
had conceived a sort of maudlin toleration for your
character ; I have a great distaste, besides, for any-
thing in the nature of a duty ; and upon both
grounds, your news delights me. But I seem to
268
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
perceive,' he added, 'a certain sound of ticking in
this box.'
' Yes,' replied Zero, with the same slow weariness
of manner, ' I have set several of them going.'
* My God ! ' cried Somerset, bounding to his feet.
* Machines ? '
* Machines ! ' returned the plotter bitterly. * Ma-
chines indeed ! I blush to be their author. Alas ! '
he said, burying his face in his hands, * that I should
live to say it ! '
* Madman ! ' cried Somerset, shaking him by the
arm. 'What am I to understand? Have you,
indeed, set these diabolical contrivances in motion ?
and do we stay here to be blown up ? '
* " Hoist with his own petard ? " ' returned the
plotter musingly. * One more quotation : strange !
But indeed my brain is struck with numbness. Yes,
dear boy, I have, as you say, put my contrivance in
motion. The one on which you are sitting, I have
timed for half an hour. Yon other '
' Half an hour ! ' echoed Somerset, dancing with
trepidation. ' Merciful heavens, in half an hour ? '
' Dear fellow, why so much excitement ? ' inquired
Zero. 'My dynamite is not more dangerous than
toffy ; had I an only child, I would give it him to
play with. You see this brick?' he continued,
lifting a cake of the infernal compound from the
laboratory-table. 'At a touch it should explode,
and that with such unconquerable energy as should
bestrew the square with ruins. ■ Well, now, behold !
I dash it on the floor.'
269
THE DYNAMITER
Somerset sprang forward, and, with the strength of
the very ecstasy of terror, wrested the brick from his
possession. ' Heavens ! ' he cried, wiping his brow ;
and then with more care than ever mother handled
her first-born withal, gingerly transported the ex-
plosive to the far end of the apartment : the plotter,
his arms once more fallen to his side, dispiritedly
watching him.
'It was entirely harmless,' he sighed. 'They
describe it as burning like tobacco.'
'In the name of fortune,' cried Somerset, 'what
have I done to you, or what have you done to your-
self, that you should persist in this insane behaviour ?
If not for your own sake, then for mine, let us
depart from this doomed house, where I profess I
have not the heart to leave you ; and then, if you
will take my advice, and if your determination be
sincere, you will instantly quit this city, where no
further occupation can detain you.'
' Such, dear fellow, was my own design,' replied
the plotter. 'I have as you observe no further
business here ; and once I have packed a little bag,
I shall ask you to share a frugal meal, to go with me
as far as to the station, and see the last of a broken-
hearted man. And yet,' he added, looking on the
boxes with a lingering regret, ' I should have liked
to make quite certain. I cannot but suspect my
underlings of some mismanagement; it may be
fond, but yet I cherish that idea : it may be the
weakness of a man of science, but yet,' he cried,
rising into some energy, 'I will never, I cannot
270
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
if I try, believe that my poor dynamite has had fair
usage ! '
' Five minutes ! ' said Somerset, glancing with
horror at the timepiece. * If you do not instantly
buckle to your bag, I leave you.'
'A few necessaries,' returned Zero, 'only a few
necessaries, dear Somerset, and you behold me
ready.'
He passed into the bedroom, and after an interval
which seemed to draw out into eternity for his un-
fortunate companion, he returned, bearing in his
hand an open Gladstone bag. His movements were
still horribly deliberate, and his eyes lingered gloat-
ingly on his dear boxes, as he moved to and fro
about the drawing-room, gathering a few small
trifles. Last of all, he lifted one of the squares
of dynamite.
' Put that down ! ' cried Somerset. ' If what you
say be true, you have no call to load yourself with
that ungodly contraband.'
'Merely a curiosity, dear boy,' he said persua-
sively, and slipped the brick into his bag ; ' merely a
memento of the past — ah, happy past, bright past !
You will not take a touch of spirits ? no ? I find
you very abstemious. Well,' he added, 'if you have
really no curiosity to await the event '
' I ! ' cried Somerset. ' My blood boils to get
away.'
' Well, then,' said Zero, ' I am ready ; I would I
could say, willing ; but thus to leave the scene of my
sublime endeavours '
271
THE DYNAMITER
Without further parley, Somerset seized him by
the arm, and dragged him downstairs ; the hall-door
shut with a clang on the deserted mansion ; and still
towing his laggardly companion, the young man
sped across the square in the Oxford Street direction.
They had not yet passed the corner of the garden,
when they were arrested by a dull thud of an
extraordinary amplitude of sound, accompanied and
followed by a shattering fracas. Somerset turned in
time to see the mansion rend in twain, vomit forth
flames and smoke, and instantly collapse into its
cellars. At the same moment, he was thrown
violently to the ground. His first glance was to-
wards Zero. The plotter had but reeled against
the garden rail ; he stood there, the Gladstone bag
clasped tight upon his heart, his whole face radiant
with relief and gratitude ; and the young man heard
him murmur to himself: 'Nunc dimittis, nunc
dimittis ! '
The consternation of the populace was inde-
scribable : the whole of Golden Square was alive with
men, women, and children, running wildly to and
fro, and, like rabbits in a warren, dashing in and
out of the house doors, and under favour of this
confusion, Somerset dragged away the lingering
plotter.
* It was grand,' he continued to murmur : * it was
indescribably grand. Ah, green Erin, green Erin,
what a day of glory ! and oh, my calumniated
dynamite, how triumphantly hast thou prevailed ! '
Suddenly a shade crossed his face ; and pausing in
272
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
the middle of the footway, he consulted the dial of
his watch.
' Good God ! ' he cried, ' how mortifying ! seven
minutes too early! The dynamite surpassed my
hopes ; but the clockwork, fickle clockwork, has once
more betrayed me. Alas, can there be no success
unmixed with failure ? and must even this red-letter
day be chequered by a shadow ? '
' Incomparable ass ! ' said Somerset, * what have
you done ? Blown up the house of an unoffending
old lady, and the whole earthly property of the only
person who is fool enough to befriend you ! '
'You do not understand these matters,' replied
Zero, with an air of great dignity. ' This will shake
England to the heart. Gladstone, the truculent
old man, will quail before the pointing finger of
revenge. And now that my dynamite is proved
effective '
' Heavens, you remind me ! ' ejaculated Somerset.
'That brick in your bag must be instantly dis-
posed of. But how ? If we could throw it in the
river '
'A torpedo,' cried Zero, brightening, 'a torpedo in
the Thames ! Superb, dear fellow ! I recognise in
you the marks of an accomplished anarch.'
'True!' returned Somerset. 'It cannot so be
done; and there is no help but you must carry it
away with you. Come on, then, and let me at once
consign you to a train.'
' Nay, nay, dear boy,' protested Zero. ' There is
now no call for me to leave. My character is now
7— s 273
THE DYNAMITER
reinstated; my fame brightens; this is the best
thing I have done yet; and I see from here the
ovations that await the author of the Golden Square
Atrocity.'
'My young friend,' returned the other, ' I give you
your choice. I will either see you safe on board a
train or safe in gaol.'
' Somerset, this is unlike you ! ' said the chymist.
* You surprise me, Somerset.'
' I shall considerably more surprise you at the next
police office,' returned Somerset, with something
bordering on rage. * For on one point my mind is
settled: either I see you packed off to America,
brick and all, or else you dine in prison.'
'You have perhaps neglected one point,' returned
the unoffended Zero : ' for, speaking as a philosopher,
I fail to see what means you can employ to force me.
The will, my dear fellow '
' Now, see here,' interrupted Somerset. ' You are
ignorant of anything but science, which I can never
regard as being truly knowledge ; I, sir, have studied
life; and allow me to inform you that I have but
to raise my hand and voice — here in this street — and
the mob '
'Good God in Heaven, Somerset,' cried Zero,
turning deadly white and stopping in his walk, ' great
God in Heaven, what words^ are these ? Oh, not in
jest, not even in jest, should they be used! The
brutal mob, the savage passions. . . . Somerset, for
God's sake, a public-house ! '
Somerset considered him with freshly awakened
2 74
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
curiosity. * This is very interesting,' said he. ' You
recoil from such a death ? '
* Who would not ? ' asked the plotter.
' And to be blown up by dynamite,' inquired the
young man, * doubtless strikes you as a form of
euthanasia ? '
'Pardon me,' returned Zero : 'I own, and, since I
have braved it daily in my professional career, I own
it even with pride : it is a death unusually distasteful
to the mind of man.'
' One more question,' said Somerset : ' you object
to Lynch Law ? why ? '
' It is assassination,' said the plotter calmly ; but
with eyebrows a little lifted, as in wonder at the
question.
' Shake hands with me,' cried Somerset. ' Thank
God, I have now no ill-feeling left; and though
you cannot conceive how I burn to see you on
the gallows, I can quite contentedly assist at your
departure.'
'I do not very clearly take your meaning,' said
Zero, ' but I am sure you mean kindly. As to my
departure, there is another point to be considered.
I have neglected to supply myself with funds ; my
little all has perished in what history will love to
relate under the name of the Golden Square Atrocity ;
and without what is coarsely if vigorously called
stamps, you must be well aware it is impossible for
me to pass the ocean.'
' For me,' said Somerset, ' you have now ceased to
be a man. You have no more claim upon me than
275
THE DYNAMITER
a door scraper ; but the touching confusion of your
mind disarms me from extremities. Until to-day, I
always thought stupidity was funny ; I now know
otherwise ; and when I look upon your idiot face,
laughter rises within me like a deadly sickness, and
the tears spring up into my eyes as bitter as blood.
What should this portend ? I begin to doubt ; I am
losing faith in scepticism. Is it possible,' he cried, in
a kind of horror of himself — ' is it conceivable that
I believe in right and wrong? Already I have
found myself, with incredulous surprise, to be the
victim of a prejudice of personal honour. And must
this change proceed ? Have you robbed me of my
youth? Must I fall, at my time of life, into the
Common Banker ? But why should I address that
head of wood ? Let this suffice. I dare not let you
stay among women and children ; I lack the courage
to denounce you, if by any means I may avoid it ;
you have no money ; well then, take mine, and go ;
and if ever I behold your face after to-day, that day
will be your last.'
' Under the circumstances,' replied Zero, ' I scarce
see my way to refuse your offer. Your expressions
may pain, they cannot surprise me ; I am aware our
point of view requires a little training, a little moral
hygiene, if I may so express it ; and one of the
points that has always charmed me in your character
is this delightful frankness. As for the small ad-
vance, it shall be remitted you from Philadelphia.'
' It shall not,' said Somerset.
'Dear fellow, you do not understand,' returned
276
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
the plotter. * I shall now be received with fresh con-
fidence by my superiors ; and my experiments will be
no longer hampered by pitiful conditions of the purse.'
'What I am now about, sir, is a crime,' replied
Somerset; 'and were you to roll in wealth like
Vanderbilt, I should scorn to be reimbursed of money
I had so scandalously misapplied. Take it, and keep
it. By George, sir, three days of you have trans-
formed me to an ancient Roman.'
With these words, Somerset hailed a passing
hansom ; and the pair were driven rapidly to the
railway terminus. There, an oath having been
exacted, the money changed hands.
' And now,' said Somerset, ' I have bought back
my honour with every penny I possess. And I
thank God, though there is nothing before me but
starvation, I am free from all entanglement with
Mr. Zero Pumpernickel Jones.'
' To starve ? ' cried Zero. ' Dear fellow, I cannot
endure the thought.'
f Take your ticket ! ' returned Somerset.
* I think you display temper,' said Zero.
' Take your ticket,' reiterated the young man.
* Well,' said the plotter, as he returned, ticket in
hand, ' your attitude is so strange and painful, that
I scarce know if I should ask you to shake hands.'
' As a man, no,' replied Somerset ; ' but I have no
objection to shake hands with you, as I might with
a pump-well that ran poison or hell-fire.'
' This is a very cold parting,' sighed the dynamiter ;
and still followed by Somerset, he began to descend
277
THE DYNAMITER
the platform. This was now bustling with pas-
sengers ; the train for Liverpool was just about to
start, another had but recently arrived ; and the
double tide made movement difficult. As the pair
reached the neighbourhood of the bookstall, how-
ever, they came into an open space ; and here the
attention of the plotter was attracted by a Standard
broadside bearing the words : ' Second Edition :
Explosion in Golden Square.' His eye lighted ;
groping in his pocket for the necessary coin, he
sprang forward — his bag knocked sharply on the
corner of the stall — and instantly, with a formidable
report, the dynamite exploded. When the smoke
cleared away the stall was seen much shattered, and
the stall-keeper running forth in terror from the
ruins ; but of the Irish patriot or the Gladstone bag
no adequate remains were to be found.
In the first scramble of the alarm, Somerset made
good his escape, and came out upon the Euston
Road, his head spinning, his body sick with hunger,
and his pockets destitute of coin. Yet as he con-
tinued to walk the pavements, he wondered to find
in his heart a sort of peaceful exultation, a great
content, a sense, as it were, of divine presence and
the kindliness of fate ; and he was able to tell him-
self that even if the worst befell, he could now starve
with a certain comfort since Zero was expunged.
Late in the afternoon he found himself at the door
of Mr. Godall's shop ; and being quite unmanned by
his long fast, and scarce considering what he did, he
opened the glass door and entered.
278
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION
< Ha ! ' said Mr. Godall, ' Mr. Somerset ! Well,
have you met with an adventure? Have you the
promised story ? Sit down, if you please ; suffer me
to choose you a cigar of my own special brand ; and
reward me with a narrative in your best style.'
' I must not take a cigar,' said Somerset.
« Indeed ! ' said Mr. Godall. ' But now I come to
look at you more closely, I perceive that you are
changed. My poor boy, I hope there is nothing
wrong ? '
Somerset burst into tears.
279
THE DYNAMITER
EPILOGUE OF THE CIGAR DIVAN
On a certain day of lashing rain in the December of
last year, and between the hours of nine and ten in
the morning, Mr. Edward Challoner pioneered him-
self under an umbrella to the door of the Cigar
Divan in Rupert Street. It was a place he had
visited but once before : the memory of what had
followed on that visit and the fear of Somerset
having prevented his return. Even now, he looked
in before he entered ; but the shop was free of
customers.
The young man behind the counter was so intently
writing in a penny version-book, that he paid* no
heed to Challoner's arrival. On a second glance, it
seemed to the latter that he recognised him.
• By Jove,' he thought, 'unquestionably Somerset!'
And though this was the very man he had been
so sedulously careful to avoid, his unexplained posi-
tion at the receipt of custom changed distaste to
curiosity.
• " Or opulent rotunda strike the sky," ' said the
shopman to himself, in the tone of one considering
a verse. * I suppose it would be too much to say
280
THE CIGAR DIVAN
" orotunda," and yet how noble it were ! " Or
opulent orotunda strike the sky." But that is the
bitterness of arts ; you see a good effect, and some
nonsense about sense continually intervenes.'
* Somerset, my dear fellow,' said Challoner, e is this
a masquerade ? '
' What ? Challoner ! ' cried the shopman. ' I am
delighted to see you. One moment, till I finish the
octave of my sonnet : only the octave.' And with
a friendly waggle of the hand, he once more buried
himself in the commerce of the Muses. ' I say,' he
said presently, looking up, ' you seem in wonderful
preservation : how about the hundred pounds ? '
* I have made a small inheritance from a great aunt
in Wales,' replied Challoner modestly.
' Ah,' said Somerset, ' 1 very much doubt the
legitimacy of inheritance. The State, in my view,
should collar it. I am now going through a stage
of socialism and poetry,' he added apologetically, as
one who spoke of a course of medicinal waters.
' And are you really the person of the — establish-
ment ? ' inquired Challoner, deftly evading the word
* shop.'
'A vendor, sir, a vendor,' returned the other,
pocketing his poesy. ' I help old Happy and
Glorious. Can I offer you a weed ? '
' Well, I scarcely like . . .' began Challoner.
'Nonsense, my dear fellow,' cried the shopman.
' We are very proud of the business ; and the old
man, let me inform you, besides being the most
egregious of created beings from the point of view
281
THE DYNAMITER
of ethics, is literally sprung from the loins of kings.
" De Godall je suis le fervent" There is only one
Godall. — By the way,' he added, as Challoner lit
his cigar, ' how did you get on with the detective
trade ? '
' I did not try,' said Challoner curtly.
'Ah, well, I did,' returned Somerset, 'and made
the most incomparable mess of it : lost all my money
and fairly covered myself with odium and ridicule.
There is more in that business, Challoner, than
meets the eye ; there is more, in fact, in all businesses.
You must believe in them, or get up the belief that
you believe. Hence,' he added, ' the recognised in-
feriority of the plumber, for no one could believe in
plumbing.'
■ A proposj asked Challoner, ' do you still paint ? '
' Not now,' replied Paul ; ' but I think of taking
up the violin.'
Challoner's eye, which had been somewhat restless
since the trade of the detective had been named,
now rested for a moment on the columns of the
morning paper, where it lay spread upon the counter.
' By Jove,' he cried, ' that 's odd ! '
' What is odd ? ' asked Paul.
'Oh, nothing,' returned the other: 'only I once
met a person called M'Guire.'
' So did I ! ' cried Somerset. ' Is there anything
about him ? '
Challoner read as follows : ' Mysterious death in
Stepney. An inquest was held yesterday on the
body of Patrick M'Guire, described as a carpenter.
282
THE CIGAR DIVAN
Doctor Dovering stated that he had for some time
treated the deceased as a dispensary patient, for
sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and nervous depression;
there was no cause of death to be found. He would
say the deceased had sunk. Deceased was not a
temperate man, which doubtless accelerated death.
Deceased complained of dumb ague, but witness had
never been able to detect any positive disease. He
did not know that he had any family. He regarded
him as a person of unsound intellect, who believed
himself a member and the victim of some secret
society. If he were to hazard an opinion, he would
say deceased had died of fear.'
4 And the doctor would be right,' cried Somerset ;
'■ and my dear Challoner, I am so relieved to hear of
his demise, that I will Wei], after all,' he added,
'poor devil, he was well served.'
The door at this moment opened, and Desborough
appeared upon the threshold. He was wrapped in a
long waterproof, imperfectly supplied with buttons ;
his boots were full of water, his hat greasy with
service ; and yet he wore the air of one exceeding
well content with life. He was hailed by the two
others with exclamations of surprise and welcome.
' And did you try the detective business ? ' in-
quired Paul.
' No,' returned Harry. ' Oh yes, by the way, I did
though : twice, and got caught out both times. But
I thought I should find my — my wife here ? ' he
added, with a kind of proud confusion.
* What ? are you married ? ' cried Somerset.
283
THE DYNAMITER
* Oh yes,' said Harry, ' quite a long time : a month
at least.'
' Money ? ' asked Challoner.
' That 's the worst of it,' Desborough admitted.
* We are deadly hard up. But the Pri — Mr. Godall
is going to do something for us. That is what brings
us here.'
' Who was Mrs. Desborough ? ' said Challoner,
in the tone of a man of society.
' She was a Miss Luxmore,' returned Harry. ' You
fellows will be sure to like her, for she is much
cleverer than I. She tells wonderful stories, too ;
better than a book.'
And just then the door opened, and Mrs. Des-
borough entered. Somerset cried out aloud to
recognise the young lady of the Superfluous Man-
sion, and Challoner fell back a step and dropped his
cigar as he beheld the sorceress of Chelsea.
' What ! ' cried Harry, ' do you both know my
wife ? '
' I believe I have seen her,' said Somerset, a little
wildly.
' I think I have met the gentleman,' said Mrs.
Desborough sweetly ; * but I cannot imagine where
it was.'
' Oh no,' cried Somerset fervently ; ' I have no
notion — I cannot conceive — where it could have
been. Indeed,' he continued, growing in emphasis,
' I think it highly probable that it 's a mistake.'
' And you, Challoner ? ' asked Harry, ' you seemed
to recognise her, too.'
284
THE CIGAR DIVAN
* These are both friends of yours, Harry ? ' said the
lady. * Delighted, I am sure. I do not remember
to have met Mr. Challoner.'
Challoner was very red in the face, perhaps from
having groped after his cigar. ' I do not remember
to have had the pleasure,' he responded huskily.
' Well, and Mr. Godall ? ' asked Mrs. Desborough.
* Are you the lady that has an appointment with
old . . .' began Somerset, and paused, blushing.
* Because if so,' he resumed, ' I was to announce you
at once.'
And the shopman raised a curtain, opened a door,
and passed into a small pavilion which had been
added to the back of the house. On the roof, the
rain resounded musically. The walls were lined with
maps and prints and a few works of reference. Upon
a table was a large-scale map of Egypt and the
Soudan, and another of Tonkin, on which, by the
aid of coloured pins, the progress of the different
wars was being followed day by day. A light, re-
freshing odour of the most delicate tobacco hung
upon the air ; and a fire, not of foul coal, but of clear-
flaming resinous billets, chattered upon silver dogs.
In this elegant and plain apartment, Mr. Godall sat
in a morning muse, placidly gazing at the fire and
hearkening to the rain upon the roof.
' Ha, my dear Mr. Somerset,' said he, ' and have
you since last night adopted any fresh political
principle ? '
* The lady, sir,' said Somerset, with another blush.
'You have seen her, I believe?' returned Mr.
285
THE DYNAMITER
Godall ; and on Somerset's replying in the affirma-
tive : ' You will excuse me, my dear sir,' he resumed,
* if I offer you a hint. I think it not improbable
this lady may desire entirely to forget the past.
From one gentleman to another, no more words are
necessary.'
A moment after, he had received Mrs. Desborough
with that grave and touching urbanity that so well
became him.
' I am pleased, madam, to welcome you to my poor
house,' he said ; * and shall be still more so, if what
were else a barren courtesy and a pleasure personal
to myself shall prove to be of serious benefit to you
and Mr. Desborough.'
' Your Highness,' replied Clara, ' I must begin with
thanks ; it is like what I have heard of you, that you
should thus take up the case of the unfortunate ; and
as for my Harry, he is worthy of all that you can do. '
She paused.
* But for yourself? ' suggested Mr. Godall — ' it was
thus you were about to continue, I believe.'
'■ You take the words out of my mouth,' she said.
' For myself, it is different.'
' I am not here to be a judge of men,' replied the
Prince ; ' still less of women. I am now a private
person like yourself and many million others ; but I
am one who still fights upon the side of quiet. Now,
madam, you know better than I, and God better
than you, what you have done to mankind in the
past ; I pause not to inquire ; it is with the future
I concern myself, it is for the future I demand
286
THE CIGAR DIVAN
security. I would not willingly put arms into the
hands of a disloyal combatant ; and I dare not re-
store to wealth one of the levyers of a private and
a barbarous war. I speak with some severity, and
yet I pick my terms. I tell myself continually that
you are a woman ; and a voice continually reminds
me of the children whose lives and limbs you have
endangered. A woman,' he repeated solemnly —
' and children. Possibly, madam, when you are
yourself a mother, you will feel the bite of that
antithesis : possibly when you kneel at night beside
a cradle, a fear will fall upon you, heavier than any
shame ; and when your child lies in the pain and
danger of disease, you shall hesitate to kneel before
your Maker.'
' You look at the fault,' she said, ' and not at the
excuse. Has your own heart never leaped within you
at some story of oppression ? But, alas, no ! for you
were born upon a throne.'
' I was born of woman,' said the Prince ; ' I came
forth from my mother's agony, helpless as a wren,
like other nurslings. This, which you forgot, I
have still faithfully remembered. Is it not one of
your English poets, that looked abroad upon the
earth and saw vast circumvallations, innumerable
troops manoeuvring, warships at sea, and a great dust
of battles on shore ; and, casting anxiously about for
what should be the cause of so many and painful pre-
parations, spied at last, in the centre of all, a mother
and her babe ? These, madam, are my politics ; and
the verses, which are by Mr. Coventry Patmore, I
287
THE DYNAMITER
have caused to be translated into the Bohemian
tongue. Yes, these are my politics : to change what
we can, to better what we can : but still to bear in
mind that man is but a devil weakly fettered by
some generous beliefs and impositions ; and for no
word however nobly sounding, and no cause how-
ever just and pious, to relax the stricture of these
bonds.'
There was a silence of a moment.
* I fear, madam,' resumed the Prince, ' that I but
weary you. My views are formal like myself ; and
like myself, they also begin to grow old. But I
must still trouble you for some reply.'
' I can say but one thing,' said Mrs. Desborough :
' I love my husband.'
' It is a good answer,' returned the Prince ; ' and
you name a good influence, but one that need not be
conterminous with life.'
' I will not play at pride with such a man as you,'
she answered. ' What do you ask of me ? not pro-
testations, I am sure. What shall I say ? I have
done much that I cannot defend and that I would
not do again. Can I say more ? Yes : I can say
this : I never abused myself with the muddle-headed
fairy tales of politics. I was at least prepared to
meet reprisals. While I was levying war myself —
or levying murder, if you choose the plainer term — I
never accused my adversaries of assassination. I
never felt or feigned a righteous horror, when a
price was put upon my life by those whom I attacked.
I never called the policeman a hireling. I may
288
THE CIGAR DIVAN
have been a criminal, in short ; but I never was a
fool.'
* Enough, madam,' returned the Prince: 'more
than enough ! Your words are most reviving to my
spirits ; for in this age, when even the assassin is
a sentimentalist, there is no virtue greater in my
eyes than intellectual clarity. Suffer me then to
ask you to retire ; for by the signal of that bell,
I perceive my old friend, your mother, to be
close at hand. With her I promise you to do my
utmost.'
And as Mrs. Desborough returned to the Divan,
the Prince, opening a door upon the other side,
admitted Mrs. Luxmore.
' Madam and my very good friend,' said he, 'is my
face so much changed that you no longer recognise
Prince Florizel in Mr. Godall ? '
' To be sure ! ' she cried, looking at him through
her glasses. ' I have always regarded your Highness
as a perfect man ; and in your altered circumstances,
of which I have already heard with deep regret, I
will beg you to consider my respect increased instead
of lessened.'
'I have found it so,' returned the Prince, 'with
every class of my acquaintance. But, madam, I pray
you to be seated. My business is of a delicate order
and regards your daughter.'
' In that case,' said Mrs. Luxmore, ' you may save
yourself the trouble of speaking, for I have fully
made up my mind to have nothing to do with her.
I will not hear one word in her defence ; but as I
7— T 289
THE DYNAMITER
value nothing so particularly as the virtue of justice,
I think it my duty to explain to you the grounds of
my complaint. She deserted me, her natural pro-
tector ; for years she has consorted with the most
disreputable persons ; and, to fill the cup of her
offence, she has recently married. I refuse to see
her, or the being to whom she has linked herself.
One hundred and twenty pounds a year, I have
always offered her: I offer it again. It is what I
had myself when I was her age.'
* Very well, madam,' said the Prince ; ' and be
that so ! But to touch upon another matter :
what was the income of the Reverend Bernard
Fanshawe ? '
' My father ? ' asked the spirited old lady. ' I
believe he had seven hundred pounds in the year.'
* You were one, I think, of several ? ' pursued the
Prince.
' Of four,' was the reply. ' We were four daughters ;
and, painful as the admission is to make, a more
detestable family could scarce be found in England.'
' Dear me ! ' said the Prince. * And you, madam,
have an income of eight thousand ? '
' Not more than five,' returned the old lady ; ' but
where on earth are you conducting me ? '
* To an allowance of one thousand pounds a year,'
replied Florizel, smiling. * For I must not suffer you
to take your father for a rule. He was poor, you
are rich. He had many calls upon his poverty :
there are none upon your wealth. And indeed,
madam, if you will let me touch this matter with a
290
THE CIGAR DIVAN
needle, there is but one point in common to your two
positions : that each had a daughter more remarkable
for liveliness than duty.'
8 1 have been entrapped into this house,' said the
old lady, getting to her feet. * But it shall not avail.
Not all the tobacconists in Europe . . .'
* Ah, madam,' interrupted Florizel, ' before what is
referred to as my fall, you had not used such lan-
guage ! And since you so much object to the simple
industry by which I live, let me give you a friendly
hint. If you will not consent to support your
daughter, I shall be constrained to place that lady
behind my counter, where I doubt not she would
prove a great attraction ; and your son-in-law shall
have a livery and run the errands. With such
young blood my business might be doubled, and I
might be bound, in common gratitude, to place the
name of Luxmore beside that of Godall.'
* Your Highness,' said the old lady, ' I have been
very rude, and you are very cunning. I suppose the
minx is on the premises. Produce her.'
* Let us rather observe them unperceived,' said the
Prince ; and so saying he rose and quietly drew back
the curtain.
Mrs. Desborough sat with her back to them on a
chair ; Somerset and Harry were hanging on her
words with extraordinary interest ; Challoner, alleg-
ing some affair, had long ago withdrawn from the
detested neighbourhood of the enchantress.
'At that moment,' Mrs. Desborough was saying,
' Mr. Gladstone detected the features of his cowardly
291
THE DYNAMITER
assailant. A cry rose to his lips : a cry of mingled
triumph . . .'
' That is Mr. Somerset ! ' interrupted the spirited
old lady, in the highest note of her register. ' Mr.
Somerset, what have you done with my house-
property ? '
* Madam,' said the Prince, ' let it be mine to give
the explanation ; and in the meanwhile, welcome
your daughter.'
' Well, Clara, how do you do ? ' said Mrs. Luxmore.
'It appears I am to give you an allowance. So
much the better for you. As for Mr. Somerset, I
am very ready to have an explanation ; for the whole
affair, though costly, was eminently humorous. And
at any rate,' she added, nodding to Paul, 'he is a
young gentleman for whom I have a great affection,
and his pictures were the funniest I ever saw.'
' I have ordered a collation,' said the Prince.
' Mr. Somerset, as these are all your friends, I pro-
pose, if you please, that you should join them at
table. I will take the shop.'
292
THE STORY
OF A LIE
Originally published ;
New Quarterly Magazine, 1879.
Now reprinted for the first time.
CHAPTER
I. Introduces the Admiral .
PAGE
. 297
ii.
A Letter to the Papers .
304
in.
In the Admiral's Name .
. 311
IV.
Esther on the Filial Relation
. 320
v. The Prodigal Father makes his debut
at Home .... 324
vi. The Prodigal Father goes on from
Strength to Strength . . . 333
vii. The Elopement .... 346
viii. Battle Royal .... 359
ix. In which the Liberal Editor appears as
Deus ex machina . . . 370
295
THE STORY OF A LIE
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL
When Dick Naseby was in Paris he made some odd
acquaintances, for he was one of those who have
ears to hear, and can use their eyes no less than
their intelligence. He made as many thoughts as
Stuart Mill ; but his philosophy concerned flesh and
blood, and was experimental as to its method. He
was a type-hunter among mankind. He despised
small game and insignificant personalities, whether
in the shape of dukes or bagmen, letting them go
by like sea- weed ; but show him a refined or power-
ful face, let him hear a plangent or a penetrating
voice, fish for him with a living look in some one's
eye, a passionate gesture, a meaning or ambiguous
smile, and his mind was instantaneously awakened.
' There was a man, there was a woman,' he seemed
to say, and he stood up to the task of comprehen-
sion with the delight of an artist in his art.
And indeed, rightly considered, this interest of
his was an artistic interest. There is no science in
the personal study of human nature. All com-
297
THE STORY OF A LIE
prehension is creation ; the woman I love is some-
what of my handiwork ; and the great lover, like the
great painter, is he that can so embellish his subject
as to make her more than human, whilst yet by a
cunning art he has so based his apotheosis on the
nature of the case that the woman can go on being
a true woman, and give her character free play, and
show littleness, or cherish spite, or be greedy of
common pleasures, and he continue to worship
without a thought of incongruity. To love a
character is only the heroic way of understanding
it. When we love, by some noble method of our
own or some nobility of mien or nature in the other,
we apprehend the loved one by what is noblest in
ourselves. When we are merely studying an ec-
centricity, the method of our study is but a series
of allowances. To begin to understand is to begin
to sympathise ; for comprehension comes only when
we have stated another's faults and virtues in terms
of our own. Hence the proverbial toleration of
artists for their own evil creations. Hence, too, it
came about that Dick Naseby, a high-minded crea-
ture, and as scrupulous and brave a gentleman as
you would want to meet, held in a sort of affection
the various human creeping things whom he had
met and studied.
One of these was Mr. Peter Van Tromp, an
English-speaking, two-legged animal of the inter-
national genus, and by profession of general and
more than equivocal utility. Years before he had
been a painter of some standing in a colony, and
298
INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL
portraits signed ' Van Tromp ' had celebrated the
greatness of colonial governors and judges. In those
days he had been married, and driven his wife and
infant daughter in a pony trap. What were the
steps of his declension? No one exactly knew.
Here he was at least, and had been, any time these
past ten years, a sort of dismal parasite upon the
foreigner in Paris.
It would be hazardous to specify his exact in-
dustry. Coarsely followed, it would have merited a
name grown somewhat unfamiliar to our ears. Fol-
lowed as he followed it, with a skilful reticence, m a
kind of social chiaroscuro, it was still possible for
the polite to call him a professional painter. His
lair was in the Grand Hotel and the gaudiest cafe's.
There he might be seen jotting off a sketch with an
air of some inspiration ; and he was always affable,
and one of the easiest of men to fall in talk withal.
A conversation usually ripened into a peculiar sort of
intimacy, and it was extraordinary how many little
services Van Tromp contrived to render in the
course of six -and- thirty hours. He occupied a posi-
tion between a friend and a courier, which made
him worse than embarrassing to repay. But those
whom he obliged could always buy one of his vil-
lainous little pictures, or, where the favours had
been prolonged and more than usually delicate,
might order and pay for a large canvas, with perfect
certainty that they would hear no more of the trans-
action.
Among resident artists he enjoyed the celebrity
299
THE STORY OF A LIE
of a non-professional sort. He had spent more
money — no less than three individual fortunes, it
was whispered — than any of his associates could ever
hope to gain. Apart from his colonial career, he
had been to Greece in a brigantine with four brass
carronades ; he had travelled Europe in a chaise-
and-four, drawing bridle at the palace doors of
German princes ; queens of song and dance had
followed him like sheep and paid his tailor's bills.
And to behold him now, seeking small loans with
plaintive condescension, sponging for breakfast on
an art-student of nineteen, a fallen Don Juan who
had neglected to die at the propitious hour, had a
colour of romance for young imaginations. His
name and his bright past, seen through the prism
of whispered gossip, had gained him the nickname of
The Admiral.
Dick found him one day at the receipt of custom,
rapidly painting a pair of hens and a cock in a little
water-colour sketching box, and now and then
glancing at the ceiling like a man who should seek
inspiration from the muse. Dick thought it remark-
able that a painter should choose to work over an
absinthe in a public cafe, and looked the man over.
The aged rakishness of his appearance was set off by
a youthful costume ; he had disreputable grey hair
and a disreputable, sore, red nose ; but the coat and
the gesture, the outworks of the man, were still
designed for show. Dick came up to his table and
inquired if he might look at what the gentleman
was doing. No one was so delighted as the Admiral.
300
INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL
*■ A bit of a thing,' said he. ' I just dash them off
like that. I — I dash them off,' he added, with a
gesture.
'Quite so,' said Dick, who was appalled by the
feebleness of the production.
* Understand me,' continued Van Tromp, 'lama
man of the world. And yet— once an artist always
an artist. All of a sudden a thought takes me in
the street ; I become its prey ; it 's like a pretty
woman ; no use to struggle ; I must — dash it off. '
' I see,' said Dick.
' Yes,' pursued the painter ; ' it all comes easily,
easily to me ; it is not my business ; it 's a pleasure.
Life is my business — life — this great city, Paris —
Paris after dark — its lights, its gardens, its odd
corners. Aha ! ' he cried, ' to be young again ! The
heart is young, but the heels are leaden. A poor,
mean business, to grow old ! Nothing remains but
the coup cTceil, the contemplative man's enjoyment,
Mr. ,' and he paused for the name.
' Naseby,' returned Dick.
The other treated him at once to an exciting
beverage, and expatiated on the pleasure of meeting
a compatriot in a foreign land ; to hear him you
would have thought they had encountered in Central
Africa. Dick had never found any one take a fancy
to him so readily, nor show it in an easier or less
offensive manner. He seemed tickled with him as
an elderly fellow about town might be tickled by a
pleasant and witty lad ; he indicated that he was no
precisian, but in his wildest times had never been
301
THE STORY OF A LIE
such a blade as he thought Dick. Dick protested,
but in vain. This manner of carrying an intimacy
at the bayonet's point was Van Tromp's stock-in-
trade. With an older man he insinuated himself;
with youth he imposed himself, and in the same
breath imposed an ideal on his victim, who saw that
he must work up to it or lose the esteem of this old
and vicious patron. And what young man can bear
to lose a character for vice ?
At last, as it grew towards dinner-time, ' Do you
know Paris ? ' asked Van Tromp.
* Not so well as you, I am convinced,' said Dick.
'And so am I,' returned Van Tromp gaily.
' Paris ! My young friend — you will allow me ? —
when you know Paris as I do, you will have seen
Strange Things. I say no more ; all I say is,
Strange Things. We are men of the world, you and
I, and in Paris, in the heart of civilised existence.
This is an opportunity, Mr. Naseby. Let us dine.
Let me show you where to dine.'
Dick consented. On the way to dinner the
Admiral showed him where to buy gloves, and
made him buy them ; where to buy cigars, and
made him buy a vast store, some of which he oblig-
ingly accepted. At the restaurant he showed him
what to order, with surprising consequences in the
bill. What he made that night by his percentages
it would be hard to estimate. And all the while
Dick smilingly consented, understanding well that
he was being done, but taking his losses in the pur-
suit of character as a hunter sacrifices his dogs. As
302
INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL
for the Strange Things, the reader will be relieved
to hear that they were no stranger than might have
been expected, and he may find things quite as
strange without the expense of a Van Tromp for
guide. Yet he was a guide of no mean order, who
made up for the poverty of what he had to show by
a copious, imaginative commentary.
' And such,' said he, with a hiccup, ' such is
Paris.'
* Pooh ! ' said Dick, who was tired of the per-
formance.
The Admiral hung an ear, and looked up sidelong
with a glimmer of suspicion.
* Good-night,' said Dick ; ' I 'm tired.'
' So English ! ' cried Van Tromp, clutching him
by the hand. 'So English! So blase \ Such a
charming companion ! Let me see you home.'
' Look here,' returned Dick, ' I have said good-
night, and now I 'm going. You 're an amusing old
boy ; I like you, in a sense ; but here's an end of it
for to-night. Not another cigar, not another grog,
not another percentage out of me.'
' I beg your pardon ! ' cried the Admiral with
dignity.
' Tut, man ! ' said Dick ; ' you 're not offended ;
you 're a man of the world, I thought. I 've been
studying you, and it's over. Have I not paid for
the lesson ? Au revoir.'
Van Tromp laughed gaily, shook hands up to the
elbows, hoped cordially they would meet again and
that often, but looked after Dick as he departed
303
THE STORY OF A LIE
with a tremor of indignation. After that they two
not unfrequently fell in each other's way, and Dick
would often treat the old boy to breakfast on a
moderate scale and in a restaurant of his own selec-
tion. Often, too, he would lend Van Tromp the
matter of a pound, in view of that gentleman's
contemplated departure for Australia ; there would
be a scene of farewell almost touching in character,
and a week or a month later they would meet on
the same boulevard without surprise or embarrass-
ment. And in the meantime Dick learned more
about his acquaintance on all sides ; heard of his
yacht, his chaise-and-four, his brief season of celeb-
rity amid a more confiding population, his daughter,
of whom he loved to whimper in his cups, his sponge-
ing, parasitical, nameless way of life ; and with each
new detail something that was not merely interest
nor yet altogether affection grew up in his mind
towards this disreputable stepson of the arts. Ere
he left Paris Van Tromp was one of those whom he
entertained to a farewell supper ; and the old gentle-
man made the speech of the evening, and then fell
below the table, weeping, smiling, paralysed.
CHAPTER II
A LETTER TO THE PAPERS
Old Mr. Naseby had the sturdy, untutored nature
of the upper middle class. The universe seemed
304
A LETTER TO THE PAPERS
plain to him. ' The thing 's right/ he would say, or
' the thing 's wrong ' ; and there was an end of it.
There was a contained, prophetic energy in his
utterances, even on the slightest affairs ; he saw the
damned thing ; if you did not, it must be from per-
versity of will ; and this sent the blood to his head.
Apart from this, which made him an exacting
companion, he was one of the most upright, hot-
tempered old gentlemen in England. Florid, with
white hair, the face of an old Jupiter, and the figure
of an old fox-hunter, he enlivened the Vale of
Thyme from end to end on his big, cantering
chestnut.
He had a hearty respect for Dick as a lad of parts.
Dick had a respect for his father as the best of men,
tempered by the politic revolt of a youth who has
to see to his own independence. Whenever the
pair argued, they came to an open rupture ; and
arguments were frequent, for they were both posi-
tive, and both loved the work of the intelligence.
It was a treat to hear Mr. Naseby defending the
Church of England in a volley of oaths, or supporting
ascetic morals with an enthusiasm not entirely inno-
cent of port wine. Dick used to wax indignant,
and none the less so because, as his father was a
skilful disputant, he found himself not seldom in
the wrong. On these occasions he would redouble
in energy, and declare that black was white, and
blue yellow, with much conviction and heat of
manner ; but in the morning such a licence of debate
weighed upon him like a crime, and he would seek
7— u 305
THE STORY OF A LIE
out his father, where he walked before breakfast on
a terrace overlooking all the vale of Thyme.
' I have to apologise, sir, for last night ' he
would begin.
'Of course you have,' the old gentleman would
cut in cheerfully. ' You spoke like a fool. Say no
more about it.'
'You do not understand me, sir. I refer to a
particular point. I confess there is much force in
your argument from the doctrine of possibilities.'
' Of course there is,' returned his father. ' Come
down and look at the stables. Only,' he would add,
' bear this in mind, and do remember that a man of
my age and experience knows more about what he
is saying than a raw boy.'
He would utter the word ' boy ' even more offen-
sively than the average of fathers, and the light way
in which he accepted these apologies cut Dick to
the heart. The latter drew slighting comparisons,
and remembered that he was the only one who ever
apologised. This gave him a high station in his own
esteem, and thus contributed indirectly to his better
behaviour ; for he was scrupulous as well as high-
spirited, and prided himself on nothing more than
on a just submission.
So things went on until the famous occasion when
Mr. Naseby, becoming engrossed in securing the
election of a sound party candidate to Parliament,
wrote a flaming letter to the papers. The letter had
about every demerit of party letters in general : it
was expressed with the energy of a believer ; it was
306
A LETTER TO THE PAPERS
personal ; it was a little more than half unfair, and
about a quarter untrue. The old man did not mean
to say what was untrue, you may be sure ; but
he had rashly picked up gossip, as his prejudice
suggested, and now rashly launched it on the public
with the sanction of his name.
* The Liberal candidate,' he concluded, ' is thus a
public turncoat. Is that the sort of man we want ?
He has been given the lie, and has swallowed the
insult. Is that the sort of man we want ? I
answer, No ! With all the force of my conviction,
I answer, Wo ! '
And then he signed and dated the letter with an
amateur's pride, and looked to be famous by the
morrow.
Dick, who had heard nothing of the matter, was
up first on that inauspicious day, and took the
journal to an arbour in the garden. He found his
father's manifesto in one column ; and in another
a leading article. 'No one that we are aware of,'
ran the article, 'had consulted Mr. Naseby on the
subject, but if he had been appealed to by the whole
body of electors, his letter would be none the less
ungenerous and unjust to Mr. Dalton. We do not
choose to give the lie to Mr. Naseby, for we are too
well aware of the consequences ; but we shall venture
instead to print the facts of both cases referred to by
this red-hot partisan in another portion of our issue.
Mr. Naseby is of course a large proprietor in our
neighbourhood ; but fidelity to facts, decent feeling,
and English grammar, are all of them qualities more
307
THE STORY OF A LIE
important than the possession of land. Mr. N
is doubtless a great man ; in his large gardens and
that half mile of greenhouses, where he has probably
ripened his intellect and temper, he may say what
he will to his hired vassals, but (as the Scots say) —
here
He maunna think to domineer.
Liberalism,' continued the anonymous journalist, * is
of too free and sound a growth,' etc.
Richard Naseby read the whole thing from begin-
ning to end ; and a crushing shame fell upon his
spirit. His father had played the fool ; he had gone
out noisily to war, and come back with confusion.
The moment that his trumpets sounded, he had
been disgracefully unhorsed. There was no question
as to the facts ; they were one and all against the
Squire. Richard would have given his ears to have
suppressed the issue ; but as that could not be
done, he had his horse saddled, and, furnishing
himself with a convenient staff, rode off at once to
Thymebury.
The editor was at breakfast in a large, sad
apartment. The absence of furniture, the extreme
meanness of the meal, and the haggard, bright-eyed,
consumptive look of the culprit, unmanned our hero ;
but he clung to his stick, and was stout and warlike.
' You wrote the article in this morning's paper ? '
he demanded.
' You are young Mr. Naseby ? I published it,'
replied the editor, rising.
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A LETTER TO THE PAPERS
' My father is an old man,' said Richard ; and then
with an outburst, ' And a damned sight finer fellow
than either you or Dalton ! ' He stopped and
swallowed; he was determined that all should go
with regularity. ' I have but one question to put to
you, sir,' he resumed. ' Granted that my father was
misinformed, would it not have been more decent
to withhold the letter and communicate with him in
private ? '
* Believe me,' returned the editor, * that alternative
was not open to me. Mr. Naseby told me in a note
that he had sent his letter to three other journals,
and in fact threatened me with what he called
exposure if I kept it back from mine. I am really
concerned at what has happened ; I sympathise and
approve of your emotion, young gentleman ; but the
attack on Mr. Dalton was gross, very gross, and I
had no choice but to offer him my columns to reply.
Party has its duties, sir,' added the scribe, kindling,
as one who should propose a sentiment; 'and the
attack was gross.'
Richard stood for half a minute digesting the
answer; and then the god of fairplay came upper-
most in his heart, and, murmuring ' Good-morning,'
he made his escape into the street.
His horse was not hurried on the way home, and
he was late for breakfast. The Squire was standing
with his back to the fire in a state bordering on
apoplexy, his fingers violently knitted under his coat-
tails. As Richard came in, he opened and shut his
mouth like a cod-fish, and his eyes protruded.
309
THE STORY OF A LIE
' Have you seen that, sir ? ' he cried, nodding
towards the paper.
* Yes, sir,' said Richard.
' Oh, you 've read it, have you ? '
'Yes; I have read it,' replied Richard, looking at
his foot.
' Well,' demanded the old gentleman, ' and what
have you to say to it, sir ? '
' You seem to have been misinformed,' said Dick.
'Well? What then? Is your mind so sterile, sir?
Have you not a word of comment ? no proposal ? '
'I fear, sir, you must apologise to Mr. Dalton.
It would be more handsome, indeed it would be
only just, and a free acknowledgment would go
far ' Richard paused, no language appearing
delicate enough to suit the case.
'That is a suggestion which should have come
from me, sir,' roared the father. ' It is out of place
upon your lips. It is not the thought of a loyal son.
Why, sir, if my father had been plunged in such
deplorable circumstances, I should have thrashed the
editor of that vile sheet within an inch of his life.
I should have thrashed the man, sir. It would have
been the action of an ass ; but it would have shown
that I had the blood and the natural affections of a
man. Son ? You are no son, no son of mine, sir ! '
' Sir ! ' said Dick.
' I '11 tell you what you are, sir,' pursued the
Squire. ' You 're a Benthamite. I disown you.
Your mother would have died for shame ; there was
no modern cant about your mother ; she thought —
310
A LETTER TO THE PAPERS
she said to me, sir — I'm glad she's in her grave,
Dick Naseby. Misinformed ! Misinformed, sir ?
Have you no loyalty, no spring, no natural affec-
tions ? Are you clockwork, hey ? Away ! This is
no place for you. Away ! ' (Waving his hands in
the air.) ' Go away ! Leave me ! '
At this moment Dick beat a retreat in a disarray
of nerves, a whistling and clamour of his own
arteries, and in short in such a final bodily disorder
as made him alike incapable of speech or hearing.
And in the midst of all this turmoil, a sense
of unpardonable injustice remained graven in his
memory.
CHAPTER III
IN THE ADMIRAL'S NAME
There was no return to the subject. Dick and his
father were henceforth on terms of coldness. The
upright old gentleman grew more upright when he
met his son, buckramed with immortal anger ; he
asked after Dick's health, and discussed the weather
and the crops with an appalling courtesy ; his pro-
nunciation was point-device, his voice was distant,
distinct, and sometimes almost trembling with sup-
pressed indignation.
As for Dick, it seemed to him as if his life had
come abruptly to an end. He came out of his
theories and clevernesses ; his premature man-of-the-
311
THE STORY OF A LIE
worldness, on which he had prided himself on his
travels, ' shrank like a thing ashamed ' before this
real sorrow. Pride, wounded honour, pity and
respect tussled together daily in his heart ; and now
he was within an ace of throwing himself upon his
father's mercy, and now of slipping forth at night
and coming back no more to Naseby House. He
suffered from the sight of his father, nay, even from
the neighbourhood of this familiar valley, where
every corner had its legend, and he was besieged
with memories of childhood. If he fled into a new
land, and among none but strangers, he might escape
his destiny, who knew ? and begin again light-
heartedly. From that chief peak of the hills, that
now and then, like an uplifted finger, shone in an
arrow of sunlight through the broken clouds, the
shepherd in clear weather might perceive the shining
of the sea. There, he thought, was hope. But his
heart failed him when he saw the Squire ; and he
remained. His fate was not that of the voyager
by sea and land ; he was to travel in the spirit, and
begin his journey sooner than he supposed.
For it chanced one day that his walk led him into
a portion of the uplands which was almost unknown
to him. Scrambling through some rough woods,
he came out upon a moorland reaching towards the
hills. A few lofty Scots firs grew hard by upon a
knoll; a clear fountain near the foot of the knoll
sent up a miniature streamlet which meandered in
the heather. A shower had just skimmed by, but
now the sun shone brightly, and the air smelt of the
312
IN THE ADMIRAL'S NAME
pines and the grass. On a stone under the trees sat
a young lady sketching. We have learned to think
of women in a sort of symbolic transfiguration, based
on clothes ; and one of the readiest ways in which
we conceive our mistress is as a composite thing,
principally petticoats. But humanity has triumphed
over clothes ; the look, the touch of a dress has
become alive ; and the woman who stitched herself
into these material integuments has now permeated
right through and gone out to the tip of her skirt.
It was only a black dress that caught Dick Naseby's
eye ; but it took possession of his mind, and all
other thoughts departed. He drew near, and the
girl turned round. Her face startled him ; it was
a face he wanted ; and he took it in at once like
breathing air.
* I beg your pardon,' he said, taking off his hat,
' you are sketching.'
' Oh ! ' she exclaimed, * for my own amusement.
I despise the thing.'
'Ten to one you do yourself injustice,' returned
Dick. ' Besides, it 's a freemasonry. I sketch my-
self, and you know what that implies.'
' No. What ? ' she asked.
' Two things,' he answered. ' First, that I am no
very difficult critic ; and second, that I have a right
to see your picture.'
She covered the block with both her hands. ' Oh
no,' she said; ' I am ashamed.'
'Indeed, I might give you a hint,' said Dick.
' Although no artist myself, I have known many ; in
313
THE STORY OF A LIE
Paris I had many for friends, and used to prowl
among studios.'
' In Paris ? ' she cried, with a leap of light into her
eyes. ' Did you ever meet Mr. Van Tromp ? '
* I ? Yes. Why, you 're not the Admiral's
daughter, are you ? '
' The Admiral ? Do they call him that ? ' she
cried. ' Oh, how nice, how nice of them ! It is the
younger men who call him so, is it not ? '
'Yes,' said Dick, somewhat heavily.
' You can understand now,' she said, with an un-
speakable accent of contented and noble-minded
pride, ' why it is I do not choose to show my sketch.
Van Tromp's daughter ! The Admiral's daughter !
I delight in that name. The Admiral ! And so
you know my father ? '
' Well,' said Dick, ' I met him often ; we were
even intimate. He may have mentioned my name
— Naseby.'
' He writes so little. He is so busy, so devoted
to his art ! I have had a half wish,' she added,
laughing, ' that my father was a plainer man, whom I
could help — to whom I could be a credit ; but only
sometimes, you know, and with only half my heart.
For a great painter ! You have seen his works ? '
' I have seen some of them,' returned Dick ; ' they
— they are very nice.'
She laughed aloud. ' Nice ? ' she repeated. ' I see
you don't care much for art.'
' Not much,' he admitted ; ' but I know that many
people are glad to buy Mr. Van Tromp's pictures.'
3i4
IN THE ADMIRAL'S NAME
' Call him the Admiral ! ' she cried. * It sounds
kindly and familiar ; and I like to think that he is
appreciated and looked up to by young painters.
He has not always been appreciated ; he had a cruel
life for many years ; and when I think ' — there were
tears in her eyes — 'when I think of that, I feel
inclined to be a fool,' she broke off. 'And now I
shall go home. You have filled me full of happiness ;
for think, Mr. Naseby, I have not seen my father
since I was six years old; and yet he is in my
thoughts all day ! You must come and call on me ;
my aunt will be delighted, I am sure ; and then you
will tell me all — all about my father, will you not ? '
Dick helped her to get her sketching traps to-
gether ; and when all was ready she gave Dick her
hand and a frank return of pressure.
'You are my father's friend,' she said; 'we shall
be great friends too. You must come and see me
soon.'
Then she was gone down the hillside at a run ;
and Dick stood by himself in a state of some be-
wilderment and even distress. There were elements
of laughter in the business ; but the black dress, and
the face that belonged to it, and the hand that he
had held in his, inclined him to a serious view.
What was he, under the circumstances, called upon
to do ? Perhaps to avoid the girl ? Well, he would
think about that. Perhaps to break the truth to
her ? Why, ten to one, such was her infatuation, he
would fail. Perhaps to keep up the illusion, to
colour the raw facts ; to help her to false ideas, while
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THE STORY OF A LIE
yet not plainly stating falsehoods ? Well, he would
see about that ; he would also see about avoiding
the girl. He saw about this last so well, that the
next afternoon beheld him on his way to visit
her.
In the meantime the girl had gone straight home,
light as a bird, tremulous with joy, to the little cot-
tage where she lived alone with a maiden aunt ; and
to that lady, a grim, sixty years old Scotswoman,
with a nodding head, communicated news of her
encounter and invitation.
* A friend of his ? ' cried the aunt. ' What like is
he ? What did ye say was his name ? '
She was dead silent, and stared at the old woman
darkling. Then very slowly, ' I said he was my
father's friend ; I have invited him to my house, and
come he shall,' she said ; and with that she walked
off to her room, where she sat staring at the wall all
the evening. Miss M'Glashan, for that was the
aunt's name, read a large bible in the kitchen with
some of the joys of martyrdom.
It was perhaps half-past three when Dick pre-
sented himself, rather scrupulously dressed, before
the cottage door ; he knocked, and a voice bade him
enter. The kitchen, which opened directly off the
garden, was somewhat darkened by foliage ; but he
could see her as she approached from the far end to
meet him. This second sight of her surprised him.
Her strong black brows spoke of temper easily
aroused and hard to quiet; her mouth was small,
nervous, and weak ; there was something dangerous
316
IN THE ADMIRALS NAME
and sulky underlying, in her nature, much that was
honest, compassionate, and even noble.
* My father's name,' she said, * has made you very
welcome.'
And she gave him her hand with a sort of curtsey.
It was a pretty greeting, although somewhat man-
nered ; and Dick felt himself among the gods. She
led him through the kitchen to a parlour, and pre-
sented him to Miss M'Glashan.
' Esther,' said the aunt, ' see and make Mr. Naseby
his tea.'
As soon as the girl was gone upon this hospitable
intent, the old woman crossed the room and came
quite near to Dick as if in menace.
' Ye know that man ? ' she asked, in an imperious
whisper.
i Mr. Van Tromp ? ' said Dick. * Yes ; I know
him.'
* Well, and what brings ye here ? ' she said. ' I
couldn't save the mother — her that's dead — but
the bairn ! ' She had a note in her voice that filled
poor Dick with consternation. ' Man,' she went
on, ' what is it now ? Is it money ? '
*■ My dear lady,' said Dick, * I think you misinter-
pret my position. I am young Mr. Naseby of
Naseby House. My acquaintance with Mr. Van
Tromp is really very slender ; I am only afraid that
Miss Van Tromp has exaggerated our intimacy in
her own imagination. I know positively nothing of
his private affairs, and do not care to know. I met
him casually in Paris — that is all.'
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THE STORY OF A LIE
Miss M'Glashan drew a long breath. ' In Paris ? '
she said. ' Well, and what do you think of him ? —
what do ye think of him ? ' she repeated, with a dif-
ferent scansion, as Richard, who had not much taste
for such a question, kept her waiting for an answer.
' I found him a very agreeable companion,' he
said.
* Ay,' said she, ' did ye ! And how does he win
his bread ? '
' I fancy,' he gasped, ' that Mr. Van Tromp has
many generous friends.'
' I '11 warrant ! ' she sneered ; and before Dick
could find more to say, she was gone from the room.
Esther returned with the tea-things, and sat
down.
' Now,' she said cosily, ' tell me all about my
father. '
' He ' — stammered Dick, ' he is a very agreeable
companion.'
4 1 shall begin to think it is more than you are,
Mr. Naseby,' she said, with a laugh. ' I am his
daughter, you forget. Begin at the beginning, and
tell me all you have seen of him, all he said and all
you answered. You must have met somewhere;
begin with that.'
So with that he began : how he had found the
Admiral painting in a cafe* ; how his art so possessed
him that he could not wait till he got home to —
well, to dash off his idea ; how (this in reply to a
question) his idea consisted of a cock crowing and
two hens eating corn ; how he was fond of cocks and
3i8
IN THE ADMIRALS NAME
hens; how this did not lead him to neglect more
ambitious forms of art ; how he had a picture in his
studio of a Greek subject which was said to be
remarkable from several points of view ; how no one
had seen it nor knew the precise site of the studio in
which it was being vigorously though secretly con-
fected ; how (in answer to a suggestion) this shyness
was common to the Admiral, Michelangelo, and
others ; how they (Dick and Van Tromp) had struck
up an acquaintance at once, and dined together that
same night ; how he (the Admiral) had once given
money to a beggar ; how he spoke with effusion of
his little daughter ; how he had once borrowed
money to send her a doll — a trait worthy of Newton
— she being then in her nineteenth "year at least ;
how, if the doll never arrived (which it appeared it
never did), the trait was only more characteristic of
the highest order of creative intellect ; how he was
— no, not beautiful — striking, yes, Dick would go so
far, decidedly striking in appearance ; how his boots
were made to lace and his coat was black, not cut-
away, a frock ; and so on, and so on by the yard. It
was astonishing how few lies were necessary. After
all, people exaggerated the difficulty of life. A
little steering, just a touch of the rudder now and
then, and with a willing listener there is no limit to
the domain of equivocal speech. Sometimes Miss
M'Glashan made a freezing sojourn in the parlour ;
and then the task seemed unaccountably more diffi-
cult ; but to Esther, who was all eyes and ears, her
face alight with interest, his stream of language
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THE STORY OF A LIE
flowed without break or stumble, and his mind was
ever fertile in ingenious evasions and —
What an afternoon it was for Esther !
* Ah ! ' she cried at last, ' it 's good to hear all
this ! My aunt, you should know, is narrow and
too religious ; she cannot understand an artist's life.
It does not frighten me,' she added grandly ; ' I am
an artist's daughter.'
With that speech, Dick consoled himself for his
imposture ; she was not deceived so grossly after all ;
and then if a fraud, was not the fraud piety itself? —
and what could be more obligatory than to keep
alive in the heart of a daughter that filial trust and
honour which, even although misplaced, became her
like a jewel of the mind ? There might be another
thought, a shade of cowardice, a selfish desire to
please ; poor Dick was merely human ; and what
would you have had him do ?
CHAPTER IV
ESTHER ON THE FILIAL RELATION
A month later Dick and Esther met at the stile
beside the cross roads ; had there been any one to see
them but the birds and summer insects, it would
have been remarked that they met after a different
fashion from the day before. Dick took her in his
arms, and their lips were set together for a long
while. Then he held her at arm's length, and they
looked straight into each other's eyes.
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ESTHER ON THE FILIAL RELATION
' Esther ! ' he said, — you should have heard his
voice.
' Dick ! ' said she.
* My darling ! '
It was some time before they started for their
walk ; he kept an arm about her, and their sides
were close together as they walked ; the sun, the
birds, the west wind running among the trees, a
pressure, a look, the grasp tightening round a single
finger, these things stood them in lieu of thought
and filled their hearts with joy. The path they were
following led them through a wood of pine-trees
carpeted with heather and blueberry, and upon this
pleasant carpet, Dick, not without some seriousness,
made her sit down.
* Esther ! ' he began, * there is something you
ought to know. You know my father is a rich man,
and you would think, now that we love each other,
we might marry when we pleased. But I fear, dar-
ling, we may have long to wait, and shall want all
our courage.'
' I have courage for anything,' she said, ' I have all
I want ; with you and my father, I am so well off,
and waiting is made so happy, that I could wait a
lifetime and not weary.'
He had a sharp pang at the mention of the Ad-
miral. ' Hear me out,' he continued. ' I ought to
have told you this before ; but it is a thought I
shrink from ; if it were possible, I should not tell
you even now. My poor father and I are scarce
on speaking terms.'
7-x 321
THE STORY OF A LIE
* Your father,' she repeated, turning pale.
' It must sound strange to you ; but yet 1 cannot
think I am to blame,' he said. ' I will tell you how
it happened.'
f O Dick ! ' she said, when she had heard him to
an end, ' how brave you are, and how proud ! Yet
I would not be proud with a father. I would tell
him all.'
' What ! ' cried Dick, * go in months after, and
brag that I had meant to thrash the man, and then
didn't ? And why? Because my father had made a
bigger ass of himself than I supposed. My dear,
that's nonsense.'
She winced at his words and drew away. 'But
then that is all he asks,' she pleaded. ' If he only
knew that you had felt that impulse, it would make
him so proud and happy. He would see you were
his own son after all, and had the same thoughts and
the same chivalry of spirit. And then you did your-
self injustice when you spoke just now. It was
because the editor was weak and poor and excused
himself, that you repented your first determination.
Had he been a big red man, with whiskers, you
would have beaten him — you know you would — if
Mr. Naseby had been ten times more committed.
Do you think, if you can tell it to me, and I under-
stand at once, that it would be more difficult to tell
it to your own father, or that he would not be more
ready to sympathise with you than I am ? And I
love you, Dick ; but then he is your father.'
'My dear,' said Dick desperately, 'you do not
322
ESTHER ON THE FILIAL RELATION
understand ; you do not know what it is to be
treated with daily want of comprehension and daily
small injustices, through childhood and boyhood and
manhood, until you despair of a hearing, until the
thing rides you like a nightmare, until you almost
hate the sight of the man you love, and who 's your
father after all. In short, Esther, you don't know
what it is to have a father, and that 's what blinds you.'
' I see,' she said musingly, * you mean that I am
fortunate in my father. But I am not so fortunate
after all ; you forget, I do not know him ; it is you
who know him ; he is already more your father than
mine.' And here she took his hand. Dick's heart
had grown as cold as ice. * But I am sorry for you,
too,' she continued, ' it must be very sad and lonely.'
'You misunderstand me,' said Dick chokingly.
' My father is the best man I know in all this world ;
he is worth a hundred of me, only he doesn't under-
stand me, and he can't be made to.'
There was a silence for a while. 'Dick,' she
began again, ' I am going to ask a favour, it 's the
first time you said you loved me. May I see your
father — see him pass, I mean, where he will not
observe me ? '
' Why ? ' asked Dick.
'It is a fancy; you forget, I am romantic about
fathers.'
The hint was enough for Dick; he consented
with haste, and full of hang-dog penitence and dis-
gust, took her down by a back way and planted her
in the shrubbery, whence she might see the Squire
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THE STORY OF A LIE
ride by to dinner. There they both sat silent, but
holding hands, for nearly half an hour. At last the
trotting of a horse sounded in the distance, the park
gates opened with a clang, and then Mr. Naseby
appeared, with stooping shoulders and a heavy,
bilious countenance, languidly rising to the trot.
Esther recognised him at once ; she had often seen
him before, though with her huge indifference for all
that lay outside the circle of her love, she had never
so much as wondered who he was; but now she
recognised him, and found him ten years older, leaden
and springless, and stamped by an abiding sorrow.
' O Dick, Dick ! ' she said, and the tears began to
shine upon her face as she hid it in his bosom ; his
own fell thickly too. They had a sad walk home,
and that night, full of love and good counsel, Dick
exerted every art to please his father, to convince
him of his respect and affection, to heal up this
breach of kindness, and reunite two hearts. But
alas ! the Squire was sick and peevish ; he had been
all day glooming over Dick's estrangement — for so
he put it to himself, and now with growls, cold
words, and the cold shoulder, he beat off all advances,
and entrenched himself in a just resentment.
CHAPTER V
THE PRODIGAL FATHER MAKES HIS DEBUT AT HOME
That took place upon a Thursday. On the Thurs-
day following, as Dick was walking by appointment,
324
THE PRODIGAL FATHER AT HOME
earlier than usual, in the direction of the cottage,
he was appalled to meet in the lane a fly from
Thymebury, containing the human form of Miss
M'Glashan. The lady did not deign to remark him
in her passage ; her face was suffused with tears, and
expressed much concern for the packages by which
she was surrounded. He stood still, and asked
himself what this circumstance might portend. It
was so beautiful a day that he was loth to forecast
evil, yet something must perforce have happened at
the cottage, and that of a decisive nature ; for here
was Miss M'Glashan on her travels, with a small
patrimony in brown paper parcels, and the old lady's
bearing implied hot battle and unqualified defeat.
Was the house to be closed against him ? Was
Esther left alone, or had some new protector made
his appearance from among the millions of Europe ?
It is the character of love to loathe the near relatives
of the loved one ; chapters in the history of the
human race have justified this feeling, and the con-
duct of uncles, in particular, has frequently met
with censure from the independent novelist. Miss
M'Glashan was now seen in the rosy colours of
regret ; whoever succeeded her, Dick felt the change
would be for the worse. He hurried forward in this
spirit ; his anxiety grew upon him with every step ;
as he entered the garden a voice fell upon his ear,
and he was once more arrested, not this time by
doubt, but by an indubitable certainty of ill.
The thunderbolt had fallen ; the Admiral was here.
Dick would have retreated, in the panic terror
3 2 5
THE STORY OF A LIE
of the moment ; but Esther kept a bright look-out
when her lover was expected. In a twinkling she
was by his side, brimful of news and pleasure, too
glad to notice his embarrassment, and in one of
those golden transports of exultation which transcend
not only words but caresses. She took him by the
end of the fingers (reaching forward to take them,
for her great pre-occupation was to save time), she
drew him towards her, pushed him past her in the
door, and planted him face to face with Mr. Van
Tromp, in a suit of French country velveteens and
with a remarkable carbuncle on his nose. Then, as
though this was the end of what she could endure
in the way of joy, Esther turned and ran out of
the room.
The two men remained looking at each other with
some confusion on both sides. Van Tromp was
naturally the first to recover ; he put out his hand
with a fine gesture.
' And you know my little lass, my Esther ? ' he
said. *This is pleasant, this is what I have con-
ceived of home. A strange word for the old rover ;
but we all have a taste for home and the homelike,
disguise it how we may. It has brought me here,
Mr. Naseby,' he concluded, with an intonation that
would have made his fortune on the stage, so just,
so sad, so dignified, so like a man of the world and a
philosopher, ' and you see a man who is content.'
' I see,' said Dick.
' Sit down,' continued the parasite, setting the
example. 'Fortune has gone against me. (I am
326
THE PRODIGAL FATHER AT HOME
just sirrupping a little brandy — after my journey.)
I was going down, Mr. Naseby ; between you and
me I was deceive ; I borrowed fifty francs, smuggled
my valise past the concierge — a work of considerable
tact — and here I am ! '
'Yes,' said Dick; 'and here you are.' He was
quite idiotic.
Esther, at this moment, re-entered the room.
•' Are you glad to see him ? ' she whispered in his
ear, the pleasure in her voice almost bursting through
the whisper into song.
' Oh yes,' said Dick ; ' very ! '
' I knew you would be,' she replied ; ' I told him
how you loved him.'
4 Help yourself,' said the Admiral, ' help yourself ;
and let us drink to a new existence.'
'To a new existence,' repeated Dick; and he
raised the tumbler to his lips, but set it down
untasted. He had had enough of novelties for one
day.
Esther was sitting on a stool beside her father's
feet, holding her knees in her arms, and looking with
pride from one to the other of her two visitors.
Her eyes were so bright that you were never sure
if there were tears in them or not ; little voluptuous
shivers ran about her body ; sometimes she nestled
her chin into her throat, sometimes threw back her
head, with ecstasy ; in a word, she was in that state
when it is said of people that they cannot contain
themselves for happiness. It would be hard to
exaggerate the agony of Richard.
327
THE STORY OF A LIE
And, in the meantime, Van Tromp ran on in-
terminably.
'I never forget a friend,' said he, 'nor yet an
enemy : of the latter I never had but two — myself
and the public ; and I fancy I have had my ven-
geance pretty freely out of both.' He chuckled.
' But those days are done. Van Tromp is no more.
He was a man who had successes ; I believe you
knew I had successes — to which we shall refer no
further,' pulling down his neckcloth with a smile.
' That man exists no more : by an exercise of will I
have destroyed him. There is something like it in
the poets. First, a brilliant and conspicuous career
— the observed, I may say, of all observers, including
the bum-baily : and then, presto ! a quiet, sly, old,
rustic bonhomme, cultivating roses. In Paris, Mr.
Naseby '
i Call him Richard, father,' said Esther.
' Richard, if he will allow me. Indeed, we are old
friends, and now near neighbours ; and, a propos,
how are we off for neighbours, Richard ? The cottage
stands, I think, upon your father's land, a family
which I respect — and the wood, I understand, is
Lord Trevanion's. Not that I care ; I am an old
Bohemian. I have cut society with a cut direct ; I
cut it when I was prosperous, and now I reap my
reward, and can cut it with dignity in my declension.
These are our little amours propres, my daughter :
your father must respect himself. Thank you, yes ;
just a leetle, leetle, tiny — thanks, thanks ; you spoil
me. But, as I was saying, Richard, or was about to
328
THE PRODIGAL FATHER AT HOME
say, my daughter has been allowed to rust ; her aunt
was a mere duenna ; hence, in parenthesis, Richard,
her distrust of me; my nature and that of the
duenna are poles asunder — poles ! But, now that I
am here, now that I have given up the fight, and
live henceforth for one only of my works — I have
the modesty to say it is my best — my daughter —
well, we shall put all that to rights. The neigh-
bours, Richard ? '
Dick was understood to say that there were many
good families in the Vale of Thyme.
'You shall introduce us,' said the Admiral.
Dick's shirt was wet; he made a lumbering
excuse to go ; which Esther explained to herself by
a fear of intrusion, and so set down to the merit
side of Dick's account, while she proceeded to detain
him.
' Before our walk ? ' she cried. ' Never ! I must
have my walk.'
' Let us all go,' said the Admiral, rising.
' You do not know that you are wanted,' she
cried, leaning on his shoulder with a caress. ' I
might wish to speak to my old friend about my new
father. But you shall come to-day, you shall do all
you want ; I have set my heart on spoiling you.'
' I will take just one drop more,' said the Admiral,
stooping to help himself to brandy. ' It is surprising
how this journey has fatigued me. But I am grow-
ing old, I am growing old, I am growing old, and —
I regret to add — bald.'
He cocked a white wide-awake coquettishly upon
329
THE STORY OF A LIE
his head — the habit of the lady-killer clung to him ;
and Esther had already thrown on her hat, and was
ready, while he was still studying the result in a
mirror: the carbuncle had somewhat painfully arrested
his attention.
■ We are papa now ; we must be respectable,' he
said to Dick, in explanation of his dandyism : and
then he went to a bundle and chose himself a staff.
Where were the elegant canes of his Parisian epoch ?
This was a support for age, and designed for rustic
scenes. Dick began to see and appreciate the man's
enjoyment in a new part, when he saw how carefully
he had 'made it up.' He had invented a gait for
this first country stroll with his daughter, which
was admirably in key. He walked with fatigue ; he
leaned upon the staff; he looked round him with
a sad, smiling sympathy on all that he beheld; he
even asked the name of a plant, and rallied himself
gently for an old town-bird, ignorant of nature.
' This country life will make me young again,' he
sighed. They reached the top of the hill towards
the first hour of evening; the sun was descending
heaven, the colour had all drawn into the west ; the
hills were modelled in their least contour by the soft,
slanting shine ; and the wide moorlands, veined with
glens and hazel woods, ran west and north in a
hazy glory of light. Then the painter awakened in
Van Tromp.
' Gad, Dick,' he cried, ' what value ! '
An ode in four hundred lines would not have
seemed so touching to Esther ; her eyes filled with
330
THE PRODIGAL FATHER AT HOME
happy tears : yes, here was the father of whom she
had dreamed, whom Dick had described ; simple,
enthusiastic, unworldly, kind, a painter at heart, and
a fine gentleman in manner.
And just then the Admiral perceived a house by
the wayside, and something depending over the
house door which might be construed as a sign by
the hopeful and thirsty.
* Is that,' he asked, pointing with his stick, * an
inn ? '
There was a marked change in his voice, as though
he attached some importance to the inquiry : Esther
listened, hoping she should hear wit or wisdom.
Dick said it was.
' You know it ? ' inquired the Admiral.
' I have passed it a hundred times, but that is all,'
replied Dick.
* Ah,' said Van Tromp, with a smile and shaking
his head ; ' you are not an old campaigner ; you have
the world to learn. Now I, you see, find an inn so
very near my own home, and my first thought is —
my neighbours. I shall go forward and make my
neighbour's acquaintance ; no, you needn't come ; I
shall not be a moment.'
And he walked off briskly towards the inn, leaving
Dick alone with Esther on the road.
' Dick,' she exclaimed, ' I am so glad to get a
word with you ; I am so happy, I have such a
thousand things to say ; and I want you to do me
a favour. Imagine, he has come without a paint-
box, without an easel ; and I want him to have all.
33i
THE STORY OF A LIE
I want you to get them for me in Thymebury. You
saw, this moment, how his heart turned to painting.
They can't live without it,' she added ; meaning per-
haps Van Tromp and Michelangelo.
Up to that moment she had observed nothing
amiss in Dick's behaviour. She was too happy to
be curious ; and his silence, in presence of the great
and good being whom she called her father, had
seemed both natural and praiseworthy. But now
that they were alone, she became conscious of a
barrier between her lover and herself, and alarm
sprang up in her heart.
■ Dick,' she cried, ' you don't love me.'
* I do that,' he said heartily.
' But you are unhappy ; you are strange ; you —
you are not glad to see my father,' she concluded,
with a break in her voice.
' Esther,' he said, ' I tell you that I love you ; if
you love me, you know what that means, and that
all I wish is to see you happy. Do you think I
cannot enjoy your pleasure ? Esther, I do. If
I am uneasy, if I am alarmed, if Oh, believe
me, try and believe in me,' he cried, giving up argu-
ment with perhaps a happy inspiration.
But the girl's suspicions were aroused ; and al-
though she pressed the matter no further (indeed her
father was already seen returning), it by no means
left her thoughts. At one moment she simply re-
sented the selfishness of a man who had obtruded
his dark looks and passionate language on her joy ;
for there is nothing that a woman can less easily for-
332
THE PRODIGAL FATHER AT HOME
give than the language of a passion which, even if
only for the moment, she does not share. At another,
she suspected him of jealousy against her father ;
and for that, although she could see excuses for it,
she yet despised him. And at least, in one way or
the other, here was the dangerous beginning of a
separation between two hearts. Esther found her-
self at variance with her sweetest friend ; she could
no longer look into his heart and find it written in
the same language as her own ; she could no longer
think of him as the sun which radiated happiness
upon her life, for she had turned to him once, and
he had breathed upon her black and chilly, radiated
blackness and frost. To put the whole matter in a
word, she was beginning, although ever so slightly,
to fall out of love.
CHAPTER VI
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON FROM STRENGTH
TO STRENGTH
We will not follow all the steps of the Admiral's
return and installation, but hurry forward towards
the catastrophe, merely chronicling by the way a few
salient incidents, wherein we must rely entirely upon
the evidence of Richard, for Esther to this day has
never opened her mouth upon this trying passage
of her life, and as for the Admiral — well, that naval
officer, though still alive, and now more suitably in-
333
THE STORY OF A LIE
stalled in a seaport town where he has a telescope
and a flag in his front garden, is incapable of throw-
ing the slightest gleam of light upon the affair.
Often and often has he remarked to the present
writer : * If I know what it was all about, sir, I '11
be ' in short, be what I hope he will not. And
then he will look across at his daughter's portrait, a
photograph, shake his head with an amused appear-
ance, and mix himself another grog by way of con-
solation. Once I have heard him go further, and
express his feelings with regard to Esther in a single
but eloquent word. 'A minx, sir,' he said, not in
anger, rather in amusement : and he cordially drank
her health upon the back of it. His worst enemy
must admit him to be a man without malice ; he
never bore a grudge in his life, lacking the necessary
taste and industry of attention.
Yet it was during this obscure period that the
drama was really performed ; and its scene was in
the heart of Esther, shut away from all eyes. Had
this warm, upright, sullen girl been differently used
by destiny, had events come upon her even in a
different succession, for some things lead easily to
others, the whole course of this tale would have been
changed, and Esther never would have run away.
As it was, through a series of acts and words of
which we know but few, and a series of thoughts
which any one may imagine for himself, she was
awakened in four days from the dream of a life.
The first tangible cause of disenchantment was
when Dick brought home a painter's arsenal on Friday
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THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
evening. The Admiral was in the chimney-corner,
once more ' sirrupping ' some brandy-and- water,
and Esther sat at the table at work. They both
came forward to greet the new arrival ; arid the girl,
relieving him of his monstrous burthen, proceeded
to display her offerings to her father. Van Tromp's
countenance fell several degrees ; he became quite
querulous.
* God bless me,' he said ; and then, * I must really
ask you not to interfere, child,' in a tone of undis-
guised hostility.
* Father,' she said, ' forgive me ; I knew you had
given up your art '
* Oh yes,' cried the Admiral ; ' I 've done with it
to the judgment day ! '
' Pardon me again,' she said firmly, ' but I do not,
I cannot think that you are right in this. Suppose
the world is unjust, suppose that no one understands
you, you have still a duty to yourself. And oh,
don't spoil the pleasure of your coming home to me ;
show me that you can be my father and yet not
neglect your destiny. I am not like some daughters ;
I will not be jealous of your art, and I will try to
understand it. '
The situation was odiously farcical. Richard
groaned under it ; he longed to leap forward and
denounce the humbug. And the humbug himself ?
Do you fancy he was easier in his mind ? I am sure,
on the other hand, that he was actually miserable ;
and he betrayed his sufferings by a perfectly silly and
undignified access of temper, during which he broke
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THE STORY OF A LIE
his pipe in several places, threw his brandy-and-water
in the fire, and employed words which were very
plain although the drift of them was somewhat
vague. It was of very brief duration. Van Tromp
was himself again, and in a most delightful humour
within three minutes of the first explosion.
' I am an old fool,' he said frankly. ' I was spoiled
when a child. As for you, Esther, you take after
your mother ; you have a morbid sense of duty,
particularly for others ; strive against it, my dear —
strive against it. And as for the pigments, well,
I '11 use them some of these days ; and to show that
I 'm in earnest, I '11 get Dick here to prepare a
canvas.'
Dick was put to this menial task forthwith, the
Admiral not even watching how he did, but quite
occupied with another grog and a pleasant vein of
talk.
A little after Esther arose, and making some pre-
text, good or bad, went off to bed. Dick was left
hobbled by the canvas, and was subjected to Van
Tromp for about an hour.
The next day, Saturday, it is believed that little
intercourse took place between Esther and her father;
but towards the afternoon Dick met the latter re-
turning from the direction of the inn, where he had
struck up quite a friendship with the landlord. Dick
wondered who paid for these excursions, and at the
thought that the reprobate must get his pocket-
money where he got his board and lodging, from
poor Esther's generosity, he had it almost in his
336
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
heart to knock the old gentleman down. He, on
his part, was full of airs and graces and geniality.
'Dear Dick,' he said, taking his arm, 'this is
neighbourly of you ; it shows your tact to meet me
when I had a wish for you. I am in pleasant spirits ;
and it is then that I desire a friend.'
' I am glad to hear you are so happy,' retorted
Dick bitterly. ' There 's certainly not much to
trouble you.'
' No,' assented the Admiral, ' not much. I got
out of it in time ; and here — well, here everything
pleases me. I am plain in my tastes. A propos,
you have never asked me how I liked my daughter?'
'No,' said Dick roundly ; ' I certainly have not.'
' Meaning you will not. And why, Dick ? She
is my daughter, of course ; but then I am a man of
the world and a man of taste, and perfectly qualified
to give an opinion with impartiality — yes, Dick,
with impartiality. Frankly, I am not disappointed
in her. She has good looks ; she has them from her
mother. She is devoted, quite devoted to me '
' She is the best woman in the world ! ' broke out
Dick.
' Dick,' cried the Admiral, stopping short ; ' I have
been expecting this. Let us — let us go back to the
Trevanion Arms, and talk this matter out over a
bottle.'
' Certainly not,' said Dick. ' You have had far
too much already.'
The parasite was on the point of resenting this ;
but a look at Dick's face, and some recollections of
7— y 337
THE STORY OF A LIE
the terms on which they had stood in Paris, came
to the aid of his wisdom and restrained him.
'As you please,' he said ; ' although I don't know
what you mean — nor care. But let us walk, if you
prefer it. You are still a young man ; when you are
my age But, however, to continue. You please
me, Dick ; you have pleased me from the first ; and
to say truth, Esther is a trifle fantastic, and will be
better when she is married. She has means of her
own, as of course you are aware. They come, like
the looks, from her poor, dear, good creature of a
mother. She was blessed in her mother. I mean
she shall be blessed in her husband, and you are the
man, Dick, you and not another. This very night
I will sound her affections.'
Dick stood aghast.
' Mr. Van Tromp, I implore you,' he said ; ' do
what you please with yourself, but, for God's sake,
let your daughter alone.'
' It is my duty,' replied the Admiral, ' and between
ourselves, you rogue, my inclination too. I am as
matchmaking as a dowager. It will be more discreet
for you to stay away to-night. Farewell. You leave
your case in good hands ; I have the tact of these
little matters by heart ; it is not my first attempt.'
All arguments were in vain ; the old rascal stuck
to his point ; nor did Richard conceal from himself
how seriously this might injure his prospects, and he
fought hard. Once there came a glimmer of hope.
The Admiral again proposed an adjournment to the
' Trevanion Arms,' and when Dick had once more
33*
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
refused, it hung for a moment in the balance whether
or not the old toper would return there by himself.
Had he done so, of course Dick could have taken to
his heels, and warned Esther of what was coming,
and of how it had begun. But the Admiral, after a
pause, decided for the brandy at home, and made off
in that direction.
We have no details of the sounding.
Next day the Admiral was observed in the parish
church, very properly dressed. He found the places,
and joined in response and hymn, as to the manner
born ; and his appearance, as he intended it should,
attracted some attention among the worshippers.
Old Naseby, for instance, had observed him.
' There was a drunken-looking blackguard oppo-
site us in church,' he said to his son as they drove
home ; * do you know who he was ? '
* Some fellow — Van Tromp, I believe,' said Dick.
* A foreigner too ! ' observed the Squire.
Dick could not sufficiently congratulate himself
on the escape he had effected. Had the Admiral
met him with his father, what would have been the
result ? And could such a catastrophe be long
postponed ? It seemed to him as if the storm were
nearly ripe; and it was so more nearly than he
thought.
He did not go to the cottage in the afternoon,
withheld by fear and shame ; but when dinner was
over at Naseby House, and the Squire had gone off
into a comfortable doze, Dick slipped out of the
room, and ran across country, in part to save time,
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THE STORY OF A LIE
in part to save his own courage from growing cold ;
for he now hated the notion of the cottage or the
Admiral, and if he did not hate, at least feared to
think of Esther. He had no clue to her reflections ;
but he could not conceal from his own heart that he
must have sunk in her esteem, and the spectacle of
her infatuation galled him like an insult.
He knocked and was admitted. The room looked
very much as on his last visit, with Esther at the
table and Van Tromp beside the fire ; but the
expression of the two faces told a very different
story. The girl was paler than usual ; her eyes
were dark, the colour seemed to have faded from
round about them, and her swiftest glance was as
intent as a stare. The appearance of the Admiral,
on the other hand, was rosy, and flabby, and moist ;
his jowl hung over his shirt collar, his smile was
loose and wandering, and he had so far relaxed the
natural control of his eyes, that one of them was
aimed inward, as if to catch the growth of the car-
buncle. We are warned against bad judgments ;
but the Admiral was certainly not sober. He made
no attempt to rise when Richard entered, but waved
his pipe flightily in the air, and gave a leer of
welcome. Esther took as little notice of him as
might be.
' Aha ! Dick ! ' cried the painter. ' I Ve been to
church ; I have, upon my word. And I saw you
there, though you didn't see me. And I saw a
devilish pretty woman, by Gad. If it were not for
this baldness, and a kind of crapulous air I can't
340
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
disguise from myself — if it weren't for this and that
and t 'other thing — I — I 've forgot what I was
saying. Not that that matters, I 've heaps of things
to say. I'm in a communicative vein to-night. I '11
let out all my cats, even unto seventy times seven.
I 'm in what I call the stage, and all I desire is a
listener, although he were deaf, to be as happy as
Nebuchadnezzar. '
Of the two hours which followed upon this it
is unnecessary to give more than a sketch. The
Admiral was extremely silly, now and then amus-
ing, and never really offensive. It was plain that he
kept in view the presence of his daughter, and chose
subjects and a character of language that should
not offend a lady. On almost any other occasion
Dick would have enjoyed the scene. Van Tromp's
egotism, flown with drink, struck a pitch above
mere vanity. He became candid and explanatory ;
sought to take his auditors entirely into his con-
fidence, and tell them his inmost conviction about
himself. Between his self-knowledge, which was
considerable, and his vanity, which was immense, he
had created a strange hybrid animal, and called it by
his own name. How he would plume his feathers
over virtues which would have gladdened the heart
of Ca?sar or St. Paul ; and anon, complete his own
portrait with one of those touches of pitiless realism
which the satirist so often seeks in vain.
'Now, there's Dick,' he said, 'he's shrewd; he
saw through me the first time we met, and told me
so — told me so to my face, which I had the virtue
34i
THE STORY OF A LIE
to keep. I bear you no malice for it, Dick; you
were right ; I am a humbug.'
You may fancy how Esther quailed at this new
feature of the meeting between her two idols.
And then, again, in a parenthesis :
'That,' said Van Tromp, 'was when I had to
paint those dirty daubs of mine.'
And a little further on, laughingly said, perhaps,
but yet with an air of truth :
' I never had the slightest hesitation in spongeing
upon any human creature.'
Thereupon Dick got up.
' I think, perhaps,' he said, ' we had better all be
thinking of going to bed.' And he smiled with a
feeble and deprecatory smile.
' Not at all,' cried the Admiral, ' I know a trick
worth two of that. Puss here,' indicating his daugh-
ter, ' shall go to bed ; and you and I will keep it up
till all 's blue.
Thereupon Esther arose in sullen glory. She had
sat and listened for two mortal hours while her idol
denied himself and sneered away his godhead. One
by one, her illusions had departed ; and now he
wished to order her to bed in her own house ! now
he called her Puss ! now, even as he uttered the
words, toppling on his chair, he broke the stem of
his tobacco pipe in three ! Never did the sheep turn
upon her shearer with a more commanding front.
Her voice was calm, her enunciation a little slow, but
perfectly distinct, and she stood before him, as she
spoke, in the simplest and most maidenly attitude.
342
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
' No,' she said, ' Mr. Naseby will have the good-
ness to go home at once, and you will go to bed.'
The broken fragments of pipe fell from the
Admiral's fingers ; he seemed by his countenance to
have lived too long in a world unworthy of him ; but
it is an odd circumstance, he attempted no reply,
and sat thunderstruck, with open mouth.
Dick she motioned sharply towards the door, and
he could only obey her. In the porch, finding she
was close behind him, he ventured to pause and
whisper, 'You have done right.'
' I have done as I pleased,' she said. ' Can he
paint ? '
'Many people like his paintings,' returned Dick,
in stifled tones ; ' I never did ; I never said I did,'
he added, fiercely defending himself before he was
attacked.
' I ask you if he can paint. I will not be put off.
Can he paint ? ' she repeated.
'No,' said Dick.
' Does he even like it ? '
' Not now, I believe.'
' And he is drunk ? ' — she leaned upon the word
with hatred.
' He has been drinking.'
' Go,' she said, and was turning to re-enter the
house when another thought arrested her. ' Meet
me to-morrow morning at the stile,' she said.
' I will,' replied Dick.
And then the door closed behind her, and Dick
was alone in the darkness. There was still a chink
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THE STORY OF A LIE
of light above the sill, a warm, mild glow behind
the window ; the roof of the cottage and some of
the banks and hazels were defined in denser dark-
ness against the sky ; but all else was formless,
breathless, and noiseless like the pit. Dick remained
as she had left him, standing squarely on one foot
and resting only on the toe of the other, and as he
stood he listened with his soul. The sound of a
chair pushed sharply over the floor startled his heart
into his mouth ; but the silence which had thus been
disturbed settled back again at once upon the cot-
tage and its vicinity. What took place during this
interval is a secret from the world of men ; but
when it was over the voice of Esther spoke evenly
and without interruption for perhaps half a minute,
and as soon as that ceased heavy and uncertain foot-
falls crossed the parlour and mounted lurching up
the stairs. The girl had tamed her father, Van
Tromp had gone obediently to bed : so much was
obvious to the watcher in the road. And yet he
still waited, straining his ears, and with terror and
sickness at his heart ; for if Esther had followed her
father, if she had even made one movement in this
great conspiracy of men and nature to be still, Dick
must have had instant knowledge of it from his
station before the door ; and if she had not moved,
must she not have fainted ? or might she not be dead ?
He could hear the cottage clock deliberately
measure out the seconds ; time stood still with him ;
an almost superstitious terror took command of his
faculties ; at last, he could bear no more, and spring-
344
THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON
ing through the little garden in two bounds, he put
his face against the window. The blind, which had
not been drawn fully down, left an open chink
about an inch in height along the bottom of the
glass, and the whole parlour was thus exposed to
Dick's investigation. Esther sat upright at the
table, her head resting on her hand, her eyes fixed
upon the candle. Her brows were slightly bent,
her mouth slightly open ; her whole attitude so
still and settled that Dick could hardly fancy that
she breathed. She had not stirred at the sound
of Dick's arrival. Soon after, making a con-
siderable disturbance amid the vast silence of the
night, the clock lifted up its voice, whined for a
while like a partridge, and then eleven times hooted
like a cuckoo. Still Esther continued immovable
and gazed upon the candle. Midnight followed, and
then one of the morning ; and still she had not
stirred, nor had Richard Naseby dared to quit the
window. And then about half-past one, the candle
she had been thus intently watching flared up into
a last blaze of paper, and she leaped to her feet with
an ejaculation, looked about her once, blew out the
light, turned round, and was heard rapidly mounting
the staircase in the dark.
Dick was left once more alone to darkness and
to that dulled and dogged state of mind when a man
thinks that misery must now have done her worst,
and is almost glad to think so. He turned and
walked slowly towards the stile ; she had told him
no hour, and he was determined, whenever she
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THE STORY OF A LIE
came, that she should find him waiting. As he got
there the day began to dawn, and he leaned over a
hurdle and beheld the shadows flee away. Up went
the sun at last out of a bank of clouds that were
already disbanding in the east ; a herald wind had
already sprung up to sweep the leafy earth and
scatter the congregated dewdrops. ' Alas ! ' thought
Dick Naseby, ' how can any other day come so dis-
tastefully to me?' He still wanted his experience
of the morrow.
CHAPTER VII
THE ELOPEMENT
It was probably on the stroke of ten, and Dick had
been half asleep for some time against the bank,
when Esther came up the road carrying a bundle.
Some kind of instinct, or perhaps the distant light
footfalls, recalled him, while she was still a good way
off, to the possession of his faculties, and he half
raised himself and blinked upon the world. It took
him some time to re-collect his thoughts. He had
awakened with a certain blank and childish sense of
pleasure, like a man who had received a legacy over-
night ; but this feeling gradually died away, and was
then suddenly and stunningly succeeded by a con-
viction of the truth. The whole story of the past
night sprang into his mind with every detail, as by
an exercise of the direct and speedy sense of sight,
346
THE ELOPEMENT
and he arose from the ditch and, with rueful courage,
went to meet his love.
She came up to him walking steady and fast, her
face still pale, but to all appearance perfectly com-
posed ; and she showed neither surprise, relief, nor
pleasure at finding her lover on the spot. Nor did
she offer him her hand.
' Here I am,' said he.
' Yes,' she replied ; and then, without a pause or
any change of voice, * I want you to take me away,'
she added.
' Away ? ' he repeated. * How ? Where ? '
' To-day,' she said. * I do not care where it is,
but I want you to take me away.'
* For how long ? I do not understand,' gasped
Dick.
* I shall never come back here any more,' was all
she answered.
Wild words uttered, as these were, with perfect
quiet of manner, exercise a double influence on the
hearer's mind. Dick was confounded ; he recovered
from astonishment only to fall into doubt and alarm.
He looked upon her frozen attitude, so discouraging
for a lover to behold, and recoiled from the thoughts
which it suggested.
'To me?' he asked. 'Are you coming to me,
Esther?'
' I want you to take me away,' she repeated, with
weary impatience. ' Take me away — take me away
from here.'
The situation was not sufficiently defined. Dick
347
THE STORY OF A LIE
asked himself with concern whether she were alto-
gether in her right wits. To take her away, to marry
her, to work off his hands for her support, Dick was
content to do all this ; yet he required some show
of love on her part. He was not one of those
tough -hided and small- hearted males who would
marry their love at the point of the bayonet rather
than not marry her at all. He desired that a woman
should come to his arms with an attractive willing-
ness, if not with ardour. And Esther's bearing was
more that of despair than that of love. It chilled
him and taught him wisdom.
' Dearest,' he urged, ' tell me what you wish, and
you shall have it ; tell me your thoughts, and then I
can advise you. But to go from here without a
plan, without forethought, in the heat of a moment,
is madder than madness, and can help nothing. I
am not speaking like a man, but I speak the truth ;
and I tell you again, the thing 's absurd, and wrong,
and hurtful.'
She looked at him with a lowering, languid look
of wrath.
' So you will not take me ? ' she said. ' Well, I
will go alone.'
And she began to step forward on her way. But
he threw himself before her.
' Esther, Esther ! ' he cried.
'Let me go — don't touch me — what right have
you to interfere ? Who are you, to touch me ? ' she
flashed out, shrill with anger.
Then, being made bold by her violence, he took
348
THE ELOPEMENT
her firmly, almost roughly, by the arm, and held her
while he spoke.
' You know well who I am, and what I am, and
that I love you. You say I will not help you ; but
your heart knows the contrary. It is you who will
not help me; for you will not tell me what you
want. You see — or you could see, if you took the
pains to look — how I have waited here all night to
be ready at your service. I only asked information ;
I only urged you to consider ; and I still urge you
to think better of your fancies. But if your mind is
made up, so be it ; I will beg no longer ; I will give
you my orders ; and I will not allow — not allow you
to go hence alone.'
She looked at him for a while with cold, unkind
scrutiny, like one who tries the temper of a tool.
* Well, take me away then,' she said, with a sigh.
' Good,' said Dick. * Come with me to the stables ;
there we shall get the pony-trap and drive to the
junction. To-night you shall be in London. I am
yours so wholly that no words can make me more
so ; and, besides, you know it, and the words are
needless. May God help me to be good to you,
Esther — may God help me ! for I see that you will
not.'
So, without more speech, they set out together,
and were already got some distance from the spot,
ere he observed that she was still carrying the hand-
bag. She gave it up to him, passively, but when
he offered her his arm, merely shook her head and
pursed up her lips. The sun shone clearly and
349
THE STORY OF A LIE
pleasantly ; the wind was fresh and brisk upon their
faces, and smelt racily of woods and meadows. As
they went down into the valley of the Thyme, the
babble of the stream rose into the air like a perennial
laughter. On the far-away hills, sun-burst and
shadow raced along the slopes and leaped from peak
to peak. Earth, air, and water, each seemed in
better health and had more of the shrewd salt of life
in them than upon ordinary mornings ; and from
east to west, from the lowest glen to the height of
heaven, from every look and touch and scent, a
human creature could gather the most encouraging
intelligence as to the durability and spirit of the
universe.
Through all this walked Esther, picking her small
steps like a bird, but silent and with a cloud under
her thick eyebrows. She seemed insensible, not only
of nature, but of the presence of her companion.
She was altogether engrossed in herself, and looked
neither to right nor to left, but straight before her
on the road. When they came to the bridge, how-
ever, she halted, leaned on the parapet, and stared
for a moment at the clear, brown pool, and swift,
transient snowdrift of the rapids.
'I am going to drink,' she said; and descended
the winding footpath to the margin.
There she drank greedily in her hands, and washed
her temples with water. The coolness seemed to
break, for an instant, the spell that lay upon her;
for, instead of hastening forward again in her dull,
indefatigable tramp, she stood still where she was,
35o
THE ELOPEMENT
for near a minute, looking straight before her. And
Dick, from above on the bridge where he stood to
watch her, saw a strange, equivocal smile dawn
slowly on her face and pass away again at once and
suddenly, leaving her as grave as ever ; and the
sense of distance, which it is so cruel for a lover to
endure, pressed with every moment more heavily on
her companion. Her thoughts were all secret ; her
heart was locked and bolted ; and he stood without,
vainly wooing her with his eyes.
'Do you feel better?' asked Dick, as she at last
rejoined him ; and after the constraint of so long a
silence, his voice sounded foreign to his own ears.
She looked at him for an appreciable fraction of a
minute ere she answered, and when she did, it was
in the monosyllable — 'Yes.'
Dick's solicitude was nipped and frosted. His
words died away on his tongue. Even his eyes,
despairing of encouragement, ceased to attend on
hers. And they went on in silence through Kirton
hamlet, where an old man followed them with his
eyes, and perhaps envied them their youth and love ;
and across the ivy beck where the mill was splashing
and grumbling low thunder to itself in the chequered
shadow of the dell, and the miller before the door
was beating flour from his hands as he whistled a
modulation ; and up by the high spinney, whence
they saw the mountains upon either hand ; and
down the hill again to the back courts and offices of
Naseby House. Esther had kept ahead all the way,
and Dick plodded obediently in her wake; but as
35i
THE STORY OF A LIE
they neared the stables, he pushed on and took the
lead. He would have preferred her to await him in
the road while he went on and brought the carriage
back, but after so many repulses and rebuffs he
lacked courage to offer the suggestion. Perhaps,
too, he felt it wiser to keep his convoy within sight.
So they entered the yard in Indian file, like a tramp
and his wife.
The groom's eyebrows rose as he received the
order for the pony-phaeton, and kept rising during
all his preparations. Esther stood bolt upright and
looked steadily at some chickens in the corner of the
yard. Master Richard himself, thought the groom,
was not in his ordinary ; for in truth, he carried the
hand-bag like a talisman, and either stood listless,
or set off suddenly walking in one direction after
another with brisk, decisive footsteps. Moreover, he
had apparently neglected to wash his hands, and
bore the air of one returning from a prolonged
nutting ramble. Upon the groom's countenance
there began to grow up an expression as of one
about to whistle. And hardly had the carriage
turned the corner and rattled into the high road
with this inexplicable pair, than the whistle broke
forth — prolonged, and low and tremulous ; and the
groom, already so far relieved, vented the rest of his
surprise in one simple English word, friendly to the
mouth of Jack-tar and the sooty pitman, and hurried
to spread the news round the servants' hall of Naseby
House. Luncheon would be on the table in little
beyond an hour ; and the Squire, on sitting down,
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THE ELOPEMENT
would hardly fail to ask for Master Richard. Hence,
as the intelligent reader can foresee, this groom has
a part to play in the imbroglio.
Meantime, Dick had been thinking deeply and
bitterly. It seemed to him as if his love had gone
from him indeed, yet gone but a little way ; as if
he needed but to find the right touch or intonation,
and her heart would recognise him and be melted.
Yet he durst not open his mouth, and drove in
silence till they had passed the main park-gates and
turned into the cross-cut lane along the wall. Then
it seemed to him as if it must be now, or never.
' Can't you see you are killing me ? ' he cried.
' Speak to me, look at me, treat me like a human
man.'
She turned slowly and looked him in the face
with eyes that seemed kinder. He dropped the
reins and caught her hand, and she made no resist-
ance although her touch was unresponsive. But
when, throwing one arm round her waist, he sought
to kiss her lips, not like a lover indeed, not because
he wanted to do so, but as a desperate man who
puts his fortunes to the touch, she drew away from
him, with a knot in her forehead, backed and shied
about fiercely with her head, and pushed him from
her with her hand. Then there was no room left
for doubt, and Dick saw, as clear as sunlight, that
she had a distaste or nourished a grudge against him.
' Then you don't love me ? ' he said, drawing back
from her, he also, as though her touch had burnt
him ; and then, as she made no answer, he repeated
7— z 353
THE STORY OF A LIE
with another intonation, imperious and yet still
pathetic, ' You don't love me, do you, do you ? '
'I don't know,' she replied. 'Why do you ask
me ? Oh, how should I know ? It has all been
lies together — lies, and lies, and lies ! '
He cried her name sharply, like a man who has
taken a physical hurt, and that was the last word
that either of them spoke until they reached Thyme-
bury Junction.
This was a station isolated in the midst of moor-
lands, yet lying on the great up-line to London.
The nearest town, Thymebury itself, was seven
miles distant along the branch they call the Vale of
Thyme Railway. It was now nearly half an hour
past noon, the down train had just gone by, and
there would be no more traffic at the junction until
half-past three, when the local train comes in to
meet the up express at a quarter before four. The
stationmaster had already gone off to his garden,
which was half a mile away in a hollow of the
moor ; a porter, who was just leaving, took charge
of the phaeton, and promised to return it before
night to Naseby House; only a deaf, snuffy, and
stern old man remained to play propriety for Dick
and Esther.
Before the phaeton had driven off, the girl had
entered the station and seated herself upon a bench.
The endless, empty moorlands stretched before her,
entirely unenclosed, and with no boundary but the
horizon. Two lines of rails, a waggon shed, and a
few telegraph posts, alone diversified the outlook.
354
THE ELOPEMENT
As for sounds, the silence was unbroken save by the
chant of the telegraph wires and the crying of the
plovers on the waste. With the approach of mid-
day the wind had more and more fallen, it was now
sweltering hot and the air trembled in the sunshine.
Dick paused for an instant on the threshold of the
platform. Then, in two steps, he was by her side
and speaking almost with a sob.
'Esther,' he said, 'have pity on me. What have
I done ? Can you not forgive me ? Esther, you
loved me once — can you not love me still ? '
' How can I tell you ? How am I to know ? ' she
answered. ' You are all a lie to me — all a lie from
first to last. You were laughing at my folly, playing
with me like a child, at the very time when you
declared you loved me. Which was true ? was any
of it true ? or was it all, all a mockery ? I am weary
trying to find out. And you say I loved you; I
loved my father's friend. I never loved, I never
heard of, you, until that man came home and I
began to find myself deceived. Give me back my
father, be what you were before, and you may talk
of love indeed.'
' Then you cannot forgive me — cannot ? ' he asked.
' I have nothing to forgive,' she answered. ' You
do not understand.'
' Is that your last word, Esther ? ' said he, very
white and biting his lip to keep it still.
' Yes ; that is my last word,' replied she.
' Then we are here on false pretences, and we stay
here no longer,' he said. ' Had you still loved me,
355
THE STORY OF A LIE
right or wrong, I should have taken you away, be-
cause then I could have made you happy. But as
it is — I must speak plainly — what you propose is
degrading to you, and an insult to me, and a rank
unkindness to your father. Your father may be this
or that, but you should use him like a fellow-
creature.'
' What do you mean ? ' she flashed. ' I leave him
my house and all my money ; it is more than he
deserves. I wonder you dare speak to me about
that man. And besides, it is all he cares for ; let
him take it, and let me never hear from him again.'
' I thought you romantic about fathers,' he said.
* Is that a taunt ? ' she demanded.
' No,' he replied, ' it is an argument. No one can
make you like him, but don't disgrace him in his
own eyes. He is old, Esther, old and broken down.
Even I am sorry for him, and he has been the loss of
all I cared for. Write to your aunt; when I see
her answer you can leave quietly and naturally, and
I will take you to your aunt's door. But in the
meantime you must go home. You have no money,
and so you are helpless, and must do as I tell you ;
and believe me, Esther, I do all for your good, and
your good only, so God help me.'
She had put her hand into her pocket and with-
drawn it empty.
* I counted upon you,' she wailed.
' You counted rightly, then,' he retorted. 6 1 will
not, to please you for a moment, make both of us
unhappy for our lives ; and since I cannot marry
356
THE ELOPEMENT
you, we have only been too long away, and must go
home at once.'
' Dick,' she cried suddenly, ' perhaps I might —
perhaps in time — perhaps '
'There is no perhaps about the matter,' inter-
rupted Dick. ' I must go and bring the phaeton.'
And with that he strode from the station, all in a
glow of passion and virtue. Esther, whose eyes had
come alive and her cheeks flushed during these last
words, relapsed in a second into a state of petrifac-
tion. She remained without motion during his
absence, and when he returned suffered herself to be
put back into the phaeton, and driven off on the
return journey like an idiot or a tired child. Com-
pared with what she was now, her condition of the
morning seemed positively natural. She sat cold
and white and silent, and there was no speculation in
her eyes. Poor Dick flailed and flailed at the pony,
and once tried to whistle, but his courage was going
down ; huge clouds of despair gathered together in
his soul, and from time to time their darkness
was divided by a piercing flash of longing and
regret. He had lost his love — he had lost his love
for good.
The pony was tired, and the hills very long and
steep, and the air sultrier than ever, for now the
breeze began to fail entirely. It seemed as if this
miserable drive would never be done, as if poor Dick
would never be able to go away and be comfortably
wretched by himself; for all his desire was to escape
from her presence and the reproach of her averted
357
THE STORY OF A LIE
looks. He had lost his love, he thought — he had
lost his love for good.
They were already not far from the cottage, when
his heart again faltered and he appealed to her once
more, speaking low and eagerly in broken phrases.
' I cannot live without your love,' he concluded.
' I do not understand what you mean,' she replied,
and I believe with perfect truth.
* Then,' said he, wounded to the quick, * your aunt
might come and fetch you herself. Of course you
can command me as you please. But I think it
would be better so.'
' Oh yes,' she said wearily, ' better so.'
This was the only exchange of words between
them till about four o'clock ; the phaeton, mounting
the lane, ' opened out ' the cottage between the leafy
banks. Thin smoke went straight up from the
chimney ; the flowers in the garden, the hawthorn in
the lane, hung down their heads in the heat ; the
stillness was broken only by the sound of hoofs.
For right before the gate a livery servant rode
slowly up and down, leading a saddle horse. And
in this last Dick shuddered to identify his father's
chestnut.
Alas ! poor Richard, what should this portend ?
The servant, as in duty bound, dismounted and
took the phaeton into his keeping ; yet Dick thought
he touched his hat to him with something of a grin.
Esther, passive as ever, was helped out and crossed
the garden with a slow and mechanical gait ; and
Dick, following close behind her, heard from within
358
THE ELOPEMENT
the cottage his father's voice upraised in an anathema,
and the shriller tones of the Admiral responding in
the key of war.
CHAPTER VIII
BATTLE ROYAL
Squire Naseby, on sitting down to lunch, had in-
quired for Dick, whom he had not seen since the
day before at dinner; and the servant answering
awkwardly that Master Richard had come back, but
had gone out again with the pony-phaeton, his sus-
picions became aroused, and he cross-questioned the
man until the whole was out. It appeared from this
report that Dick had been going about for nearly a
month with a girl in the Vale— a Miss Van Tromp ;
that she lived near Lord Trevanion's upper wood ;
that recently Miss Van Tromp's papa had returned
home from foreign parts after a prolonged absence ;
that this papa was an old gentleman, very chatty and
free with his money in the public-house— whereupon
Mr. Naseby 's face became encrimsoned ; that the
papa, furthermore, was said to be an admiral— where-
upon Mr. Naseby spat out a whistle brief and fierce
as an oath ; that Master Dick seemed very friendly
with the papa—' God help him ! ' said Mr. Naseby ;
that last night Master Dick had not come in, and
to-day he had driven away in the phaeton with the
young lady.
359
THE STORY OF A LIE
4 Young woman,' corrected Mr. Naseby.
' Yes, sir,' said the man, who had been unwilling
enough to gossip from the first, and was now cowed
by the effect of his communications on the master.
' Young woman, sir ! '
6 Had they luggage ? ' demanded the Squire.
' Yes, sir. '
Mr. Naseby was silent for a moment, struggling
to keep down his emotion, and he mastered it so far
as to mount into the sarcastic vein, when he was in
the nearest danger of melting into the sorrowful.
' And was this — this Van Dunk with them ? ' he
asked, dwelling scornfully on the name.
The servant believed not, and being eager to shift
the responsibility to other shoulders suggested that
perhaps the master had better inquire further from
George the stableman in person.
' Tell him to saddle the chestnut and come with
me. He can take the grey gelding; for we may
ride fast. And then you can take away this trash,'
added Mr. Naseby, pointing to the luncheon ; and
he arose, lordly in his anger, and marched forth upon
the terrace to await his horse.
There Dick's old nurse shrunk up to him, for the
news went like wildfire over Naseby House, and
timidly expressed a hope that there was nothing
much amiss with the young master.
' I '11 pull him through,' the Squire said grimly, as
though he meant to pull him through a threshing-
mill ; ' I '11 save him from this gang ; God help him
with the next ! He has a taste for low company,
360
BATTLE ROYAL
and no natural affections to steady him. His father
was no society for him ; he must go fuddling with a
Dutchman, Nance, and now he's caught. Let us
pray he '11 take the lesson,' he added, more gravely,
* but youth is here to make troubles, and age to pull
them out again.'
Nance whimpered and recalled several episodes of
Dick's childhood, which moved Mr. Naseby to blow
his nose and shake her hard by the hand ; and then,
the horse having arrived opportunely, to get himself
without delay into the saddle and canter off.
He rode straight, hot spur, to Thymebury, where,
as was to be expected, he could glean no tidings of
the runaways. They had not been seen at the
George ; they had not been seen at the station.
The shadow darkened on Mr. Naseby 's face; the
junction did not occur to him ; his last hope was for
Van Tromp's cottage ; thither he bade George guide
him, and thither he followed, nursing grief, anxiety,
and indignation in his heart.
' Here it is, sir,' said George, stopping.
' What ! on my own land ! ' he cried. ' How 's
this ? I let this place to somebody — M' Whirter or
M'Glashan.'
' Miss M'Glashan was the young lady's aunt, sir,
I believe,' returned George.
' Ay— dummies,' said the Squire. ' I shall whistle
for my rent too. Here, take my horse.'
The Admiral, this hot afternoon, was sitting by
the window with a long glass. He already knew the
Squire by sight, and now, seeing him dismount
361
THE STORY OF A LIE
before the cottage and come striding through the
garden, concluded without doubt he was there to ask
for Esther's hand.
' This is why the girl is not yet home,' he thought ;
' a very suitable delicacy on young Naseby's part.'
And he composed himself with some pomp,
answered the loud rattle of the riding whip upon the
door with a dulcet invitation to enter, and coming
forward with a bow and a smile, 'Mr. Naseby, I
believe,' said he.
The Squire came armed for battle ; took in his
man from top to toe in one rapid and scornful glance,
and decided on a course at once. He must let the
fellow see that he understood him.
' You are Mr. Van Tromp ? ' he returned roughly,
and without taking any notice of the proffered hand.
' The same, sir,' replied the Admiral. ' Pray be
seated.'
' No, sir,' said the Squire, point-blank, ' I will not
be seated. I am told that you are an admiral,' he
added.
'No, sir, I am not an admiral,' returned Van
Tromp, who now began to grow nettled and enter
into the spirit of the interview.
' Then why do you call yourself one, sir ? '
' I have to ask your pardon, I do not,' says Van
Tromp, as grand as the Pope.
But nothing was of avail against the Squire.
' You sail under false colours from beginning to
end,' he said. ' Your very house was taken under a
sham name.'
362
BATTLE ROYAL
' It is not my house. I am my daughter's guest,'
replied the Admiral. ' If it were my house '
* Well ? ' said the Squire, ' what then ? hey ? '
The Admiral looked at him nobly, but was silent.
'Look here,' said Mr. Naseby, 'this intimidation
is a waste of time ; it is thrown away on me, sir ; it
will not succeed with me. I will not permit you
even to gain time by your fencing. Now, sir, I
presume you understand what brings me here.'
' I am entirely at a loss to account for your
intrusion,' bows and waves Van Tromp.
' I will try to tell you, then. I come here as a
father ' — down came the riding whip upon the table
— ■' I have right and justice upon my side. I under-
stand your calculations, but you calculated without
me. I am a man of the world, and I see through
you and your manoeuvres. I am dealing now with a
conspiracy — I stigmatise it as such, and I will expose
it and crush it. And now I order you to tell me
how far things have gone, and whither you have
smuggled my unhappy son.'
'My God, sir!' Van Tromp broke out, 'I have
had about enough of this. Your son ? God knows
where he is for me ! What the devil have I to do
with your son ? My daughter is out, for the matter
of that ; I might ask you where she is, and what
would you say to that ? But this is all midsummer
madness. Name your business distinctly and be off.'
' How often am I to tell you ? ' cried the Squire.
'Where did your daughter take my son to-day in
that cursed pony carriage ? '
363
THE STORY OF A LIE
' In a pony carriage ? ' repeated Van Tromp.
' Yes, sir — with luggage.'
' Luggage ? '—Van Tromp had turned a little
pale.
'Luggage, I said — luggage!' shouted Naseby.
'You may spare me this dissimulation. Where's
my son ? You are speaking to a father, sir, a father.'
' But, sir, if this be true,' out came Van Tromp in
a new key, 'it is I who have an explanation to
demand. '
'Precisely. There is the conspiracy,' retorted
Naseby. ' Oh,' he added, < I am a man of the world.
I can see through and through you.'
Van Tromp began to understand.
' You speak a great deal about being a father, Mr.
Naseby,' said he ; 'I believe you forget that the
appellation is common to both of us. I am at a
loss to figure to myself, however dimly, how any
man — I have not said any gentleman — could so
brazenly insult another as you have been insulting
me since you entered this house. For the first time
I appreciate your base insinuations, and I despise
them and you. You were, I am told, a manu-
facturer ; I am an artist ; I have seen better days ;
I have moved in societies where you would not be
received, and dined where you would be glad to pay
a pound to see me dining. The so-called aristocracy
of wealth, sir, I despise. I refuse to help you ; I
refuse to be helped by you. There lies the door.'
And the Admiral stood forth in a halo.
It was then that Dick entered. He had been
364
BATTLE ROYAL
waiting in the porch for some time back, and Esther
had been listlessly standing by his side. He had
put out his hand to bar her entrance, and she had
submitted without surprise ; and though she seemed
to listen, she scarcely appeared to comprehend. Dick,
on his part, was as white as a sheet ; his eyes burned
and his lips trembled with anger as he thrust the
door suddenly open, introduced Esther with cere-
monious gallantry, and stood forward and knocked
his hat firmer on his head like a man about to leap.
' What is all this ? ' he demanded.
' Is this your father, Mr. Naseby ? ' inquired the
Admiral.
' It is,' said the young man.
'I make you my compliments,' returned Van
Tromp.
< Dick ! ' cried his father, suddenly breaking forth,
* it is not too late, is it ? I have come here in time
to save you. Come, come away with me — come
away from this place.'
And he fawned upon Dick with his hands.
* Keep your hands off me,' cried Dick, not mean-
ing unkindness, but because his nerves were shattered
by so many successive miseries.
' No, no,' said the old man, « don't repulse your
father, Dick, when he has come here to save you.
Don't repulse me, my boy. Perhaps I have not
been kind to you, not quite considerate, too harsh ;
my boy, it was not for want of love. Think of old
times. I was kind to you then, was I not ? When
you were a child, and your mother was with us.'
365
THE STORY OF A LIE
Mr. Naseby was interrupted by a sort of sob. Dick
stood looking at him in a maze. 'Come away,'
pursued the father in a whisper ; * you need not be
afraid of any consequences. I am a man of the
world, Dick ; and she can have no claim on you —
no claim, I tell you ; and we 11 be handsome too,
Dick — we'll give them a good round figure, father
and daughter, and there 's an end.'
He had been trying to get Dick towards the door,
but the latter stood off.
' You had better take care, sir, how you insult that
lady,' said the son, as black as night.
*■ You would not choose between your father and
your mistress ? ' said the father.
' What do you call her, sir ? ' cried Dick, high and
clear.
Forbearance and patience were not among Mr.
Naseby 's qualities.
* I called her your mistress,' he shouted, ' and I
might have called her a '
' That is an unmanly lie,' replied Dick slowly.
< Dick ! ' cried the father, * Dick ! '
' I do not care,' said the son, strengthening him-
self against his own heart ; ' I — I have said it, and
it's the truth.'
There was a pause.
' Dick,' said the old man at last, in a voice that
was shaken as by a gale of wind, ' I am going. I
leave you with your friends, sir — with your friends.
I came to serve you, and now I go away a broken
man. For years I have seen this coming, and now
366
BATTLE ROYAL
it has come. You never loved me. Now you have
been the death of me. You may boast of that. Now
I leave you. God pardon you ! '
With that he was gone ; and the three who re-
mained together heard his horse's hoofs descend the
lane. Esther had not made a sign throughout the in-
terview, and still kept silence now that it was over ;
but the Admiral, who had once or twice moved
forward and drawn back again, now advanced for good.
' You are a man of spirit, sir,' said he to Dick ;
' but though I am no friend to parental interference,
I will say that you were heavy on the governor.'
Then he added with a chuckle : ' You began,
Richard, with a silver spoon, and here you are in the
water like the rest. Work, work, nothing like work.
You have parts, you have manners ; why, with
application, you may die a millionaire ! '
Dick shook himself, he took Esther by the hand,
looking at her mournfully.
' Then this is farewell,' he said.
6 Yes,' she answered. There was no tone in her
voice, and she did not return his gaze.
' For ever,' added Dick.
* For ever,' she repeated mechanically.
' I have had hard measure,' he continued. ' In
time, I believe I could have shown you I was worthy,
and there was no time long enough to show how
much I loved you. But it was not to be. I have
lost all.'
He relinquished her hand, still looking at her, and
she turned to leave the room.
367
THE STORY OF A LIE
' Why, what in fortune's name is the meaning of
all this ? ' cried Van Tromp. ' Esther, come back ! '
' Let her go,' said Dick, and he watched her dis-
appear with strangely mingled feelings. For he had
fallen into that stage when men have the vertigo of
misfortune, court the strokes of destiny, and rush
towards anything decisive, that it may free them
from suspense though at the cost of ruin. It is one
of the many minor forms of suicide.
' She did not love me,' he said, turning to her
father.
■ I feared as much,' said he, ' when I sounded her.
Poor Dick, poor Dick ! And yet I believe I am as
much cut up as you are. I was born to see others
happy.'
' You forget,' returned Dick, with something like
a sneer, ' that I am now a pauper.'
Van Tromp snapped his fingers.
' Tut ! ' said he ; ' Esther has plenty for us all.'
Dick looked at him with some wonder. It had
never dawned upon him that this shiftless, thriftless,
worthless, spongeing parasite was yet, after all and
in spite of all, not mercenary in the issue of his
thoughts ; yet so it was.
'Now,' said Dick, ' I must go.'
' Go ? ' cried Van Tromp. ' Where ? Not one
foot, Mr. Richard Naseby. Here you shall stay in
the meantime ! and — well, and do something practical
— advertise for a situation as private secretary — and
when you have it, go and welcome. But in the
meantime, sir, no false pride ; we must stay with our
368
BATTLE ROYAL
friends ; we must sponge a while on Papa Van Tromp,
who has sponged so often upon us.'
' By God,' cried Dick, ' I believe you are the best
of the lot'
'Dick, my boy,' replied the Admiral, winking,
' you mark me, I am not the worst.'
' Then why,' began Dick, and then paused. ' But
Esther,' he began again, once more to interrupt him-
self. ' The fact is, Admiral,' he came out with it
roundly now, ' your daughter wished to run away
from you to-day, and I only brought her back with
difficulty.'
* In the pony carriage ? ' asked the Admiral, with
the silliness of extreme surprise.
' Yes,' Dick answered.
' Why, what the devil was she running away from V
Dick found the question unusually hard to answer.
' Why,' said he, ' you know you 're a bit of a rip.'
' I behave to that girl, sir, like an archdeacon,'
replied Van Tromp warmly.
'Well — excuse me — but you know you drink,'
insisted Dick.
' I know that I was a sheet in the wind's eye, sir,
once — once only, since I reached this place,' retorted
the Admiral. ' And even then I was fit for any
drawing-room. I should like you to tell me how
many fathers, lay and clerical, go upstairs every day
with a face like a lobster and cod's eyes — and are
dull, upon the back of it — not even mirth for the
money ! No, if that 's what she runs for, all I say is,
let her run.'
7—2 a 369
THE STORY OF A LIE
' You see,' Dick tried it again, ' she has fancies '
' Confound her fancies ! ' cried Van Tromp. ' I
used her kindly ; she had her own way ; I was her
father. Besides, I had taken quite a liking to the
girl, and meant to stay with her for good. But I
tell you what it is, Dick, since she has trifled with
you — oh yes, she did though ! — and since her old
papa's not good enough for her — the devil take
her, say I.'
' You will be kind to her at least ? ' said Dick.
' I never was unkind to a living soul,' replied the
Admiral. * Firm I can be, but not unkind.'
' Well,' said Dick, offering his hand, ' God bless
you, and farewell.'
The Admiral swore by all his gods he should not
go. ' Dick,' he said, ' you are a selfish dog ; you for-
get your old Admiral. You wouldn't leave him
alone, would you ? '
It was useless to remind him that the house was not
his to dispose of, that being a class of considerations
to which his intelligence was closed ; so Dick tore
himself off by force, and shouting a good-bye, made
off along the lane to Thymebury.
CHAPTER IX
IN WHICH THE LIBERAL EDITOR APPEARS AS
' DEUS EX MACHINA '
It was perhaps a week later, as old Mr. Naseby sat
brooding in his study, that there was shown in upon
37o
DEUS EX MACHINA
him, on urgent business, a little hectic gentleman
shabbily attired.
* I have to ask pardon for this intrusion, Mr.
Naseby,' he said ; ' but I come here to perform a
duty. My card has been sent in, but perhaps you
may not know, what it does not tell you, that I am
the editor of the Thymebwy Star.'
Mr. Naseby looked up indignant.
' I cannot fancy,' he said, * that we have much in
common to discuss.'
' I have only a word to say — one piece of informa-
tion to communicate. Some months ago, we had —
you will pardon my referring to it, it is absolutely
necessary — but we had an unfortunate difference as
to facts.'
' Have you come to apologise ? ' asked the Squire
sternly.
' No, sir; to mention a circumstance. On the morn-
ing in question, your son, Mr. Richard Naseby '
' I do not permit his name to be mentioned.'
* You will, however, permit me,' replied the Editor.
'You are cruel,' said the Squire. He was right,
he was a broken man.
Then the Editor described Dick's warning visit ;
and how he had seen in the lad's eye that there was
a thrashing in the wind, and had escaped through
pity only — so the Editor put it — ' through pity only,
sir. And oh, sir,' he went on, ' if you had seen him
speaking up for you, I am sure you would have been
proud of your son. I know I admired the lad myself,
and indeed that 's what brings me here.'
17 1
THE STORY OF A LIE
' I have misjudged him,' said the Squire. ' Do
you know where he is ? '
'Yes, sir, he lies sick at Thymebury.'
' You can take me to him ? '
'I can.'
' I pray God he may forgive me,' said the father.
And he and the Editor made post-haste for the
country town.
Next day the report went abroad that Mr. Richard
was reconciled to his father and had been taken home
to Naseby House. He was still ailing, it was said,
and the Squire nursed him like the proverbial woman.
Rumour, in this instance, did no more than justice
to the truth ; and over the sick-bed many con-
fidences were exchanged, and clouds that had been
growing for years passed away in a few hours, and
as fond mankind loves to hope, for ever. Many long
talks had been fruitless in external action, though
fruitful for the understanding of the pair ; but at last
one showery Tuesday, the Squire might have been
observed upon his way to the cottage in the lane.
The old gentleman had arranged his features with
a view to self-command, rather than external cheer-
fulness ; and he entered the cottage on his visit of
conciliation with the bearing of a clergyman come to
announce a death.
The Admiral and his daughter were both within,
and both looked upon their visitor with more surprise
than favour.
' Sir,' said he to Van Tromp, ' I am told I have
done you much injustice.'
372
DEUS EX MACHINA
There came a little sound in Esther's throat, and
she put her hand suddenly to her heart.
' You have, sir ; and the acknowledgment suffices,'
replied the Admiral. ' I am prepared, sir, to be easy
with you, since I hear you have made it up with
my friend Dick. But let me remind you that you
owe some apologies to this young lady also.'
' I shall have the temerity to ask for more than
her forgiveness,' said the Squire. ' Miss Van Tromp,'
he continued, ' once I was in great distress, and
knew nothing of you or your character ; but I
believe you will pardon a few rough words to an
old man who asks forgiveness from his heart. I
have heard much of you since then ; for you have a
fervent advocate in my house. I believe you will
understand that I speak of my son. He is, I regret
to say, very far from well ; he does not pick up as
the doctors had expected ; he has a great deal upon
his mind, and, to tell you the truth, my girl, if you
won't help us, I am afraid I shall lose him. Come,
now, forgive him ! I was angry with him once
myself, and I found I was in the wrong. This is
only a misunderstanding, like the other, believe me ;
and, with one kind movement, you may give happiness
to him, and to me, and to yourself.'
Esther made a movement towards the door, but
long before she reached it she had broken forth
sobbing.
' It is all right,' said the Admiral ; ' I understand
the sex. Let me make you my compliments, Mr.
Naseby. '
373
THE STORY OF A LIE
The Squire was too much relieved to be angry.
' My dear,' said he to Esther, ' you must not
agitate yourself.'
' She had better go up and see him right away,'
suggested Van Tromp.
* I had not ventured to propose it,' replied the
Squire. ' Les convenances, I believe '
i Je men jichej cried the Admiral, snapping his
fingers. ' She shall go and see my friend Dick.
Run and get ready, Esther.'
Esther obeyed.
' She has not — has not run away again ? ' inquired
Mr. Naseby, as soon as she was gone.
' No,' said Van Tromp, ' not again. She is a
devilish odd girl though, mind you that.'
' But I cannot stomach the man with the car-
buncles,' thought the Squire.
And this is why there is a new household and a
brand-new baby in Naseby Dower House ; and why
the great Van Tromp lives in pleasant style upon the
shores of England ; and why twenty-six individual
copies of the Thymebury Star are received daily at
the door of Naseby House. '
374
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